US copper futures ended a shade off Thursday after hitting their lowest levels in more than a week as a rise in inventories and slower Chinese industrial activity placed a cap on the market. Copper for May delivery eased 0.10 cent to settle at $1.6245 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchanges COMEX division. Sessions range from $1.6540 to $1.5850, which marked the contracts lowest level since March 3.
Front-month March copper ended up 0.15 cent at $1.6175. COMEX estimated futures volume at 9,690 lots by 12 pm EDT (1600 GMT) 17,855 lots. Open interest jumped 2,393 lots to 89,359 contracts open as of March 11. COMEX copper in continued consolidation from breakout above $1.50 to $1.60 levels - Ralph Preston, futures analyst with HeritageWestFutures.com in San Diego, California.