US copper futures pulled back from a two-month high early on Wednesday as investors cashed in on a rally that saw the benchmark March contract spike over 11 percent since the start of the year, analysts said.
"It's just giving back a little bit here. It has been a big run. Looking back to the beginning of the year to now, we have had a 30-cent run, so I think it was due for a little bit of a pull-back," said Scott Meyers, senior trading analyst with Pioneer Futures in New York.
Copper for March delivery was down 2.75 cents to $3.2710 a lb by 10:23 am EST (1523 GMT) on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division, moving between $3.2590 and $3.3785, its loftiest level since November 7. The copper market has benefited from rebalancing of commodity index portfolios for 2008 and fresh inflows of investor money into the metals complex, which helped to push gold futures to within $5 of the $900 level in overnight business.
"I like the market. I like all of the metals. I think we're going higher the trend is still in place. It's just going to take a little more time. It's just a little bit of a pause," Meyers said.
Futures volumes were estimated at 5,584 lots by 9:00 am Another strong session in Shanghai overnight, where copper futures rose by their 4 percent daily trading limit, held Comex copper's bullish tone in place on Wednesday.