US copper ended down 2 percent on Wednesday as worries about eroding Chinese demand for the metal made investors look beyond the dollar, whose weakness had helped the market rally most of this month. Copper for December delivery settled down 5.65 cents, or almost 2 percent, at $2.8080 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division. Range from $2.8780 to $2.7605.
COMEX'S estimated final copper volume stood at 19,629 lots, versus Tuesday's tally of 19,737 lots. The lagging Chinese demand prompted investors to look beyond the dollar, which had supported prices through most of September.