Copper futures in New York traded on either side of unchanged in early business on Tuesday as prices held in a quiet ranges ahead of a US Federal Reserve decision on interest rates due out after the close of the copper market, sources said.
"We opened lower on the heels of lower gold and silver. The market has been discounting the Escondida strike because of what is going on with the FOMC ... we are back to arbitrage-related value," said James Quinn, commodity commentator with A.G. Edwards. "There is not much volume in here and I think the market's playing a 'wait and see' game until the Fed time."
By 10:29 am EDT (1429 GMT), copper for September delivery was off 0.55 cent at $3.6050 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, dealing between $3.57 and $3.6250. Spot August gained 0.45 cent at its early session peak at $3.63 a lb. COMEX copper volume at 10 am EDT was estimated at 4,000 lots.