US copper futures were modestly lower in early choppy business on Wednesday as fund rollover out of the front-month May contract created a speculative buying opportunity on the price dip, sources said.
"A lot of May/Julys traded this morning ... that's where a lot of the volume is going, but new buyers came into it and the ring got caught short and people had to get out and cover," said one COMEX floor dealer.
By 10:39 am EDT (1439 GMT), copper for May delivery eased 0.10 cent at $2.97 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, after setting a new life-of-contract peak at $2.9950 in early electronic trade. Spot April was last asked at $3.0680 a lb, after climbing to a new all-time COMEX record at $3.0730.
COMEX copper volume at 10 am was estimated at a healthy 19,000 lots, with 5,370 lots in switch volume.