US copper futures managed to eke out a modest gain by the close on Monday as a weakening dollar and strength in surrounding markets enabled the red metal to reverse an early bout of liquidation. Copper for September delivery ended up 0.70 cent at $3.6120 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division.
The session range was from $3.5880 to $3.6345. By noon, COMEX estimated futures volumes at only 6,988 lots. Final volumes on Friday totalled 13,855 lots. Nonc-ommercial investors were net long on 993 lots of copper traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division in the week ended July 22, down 67 percent from a week earlier. US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. LME copper for delivery in three-months closed up $39 at $7,995 a tonne Friday.