Copper ended on firmer footing on Monday, buoyed by a softer dollar and output disruptions in Chile, the world's top producer. In New York, the July COMEX copper contract firmed 0.75 cent to settle at $4.1420 per lb. Despite the positive finish, trading volumes were extremely thin as the Shanghai Futures Exchange shut for a one-day holiday in China.
In late New York business, close to 26,000 lots exchanged hands, more than 40 percent below the 30-day norm, according to preliminary data from Thomson Reuters. Copper and the rest of the base metals complex derived some early support from the currency markets, where the euro continued to hold near one-month highs. But that support eased a touch after a German official suggested a second Greek bailout was not yet certain. Zinc ended up $14 at $2,272 a tonne, after hitting its highest point since end-April at $2,315. It ran into chart-based resistance at the 200 day moving average near the $2,318 area. Lead jumped $70 to end at $2,502 a tonne, a gain of nearly 3 percent.