COMEX copper for September delivery fell 0.90 cent to settle at $3.4835 per lb on Friday dealing between $3.4560 and $3.4945. Despite the late-week loss, copper prices posted their third straight weekly gain. COMEX volumes picked up Friday to stand at 61,700 lots in late New York trade, nearly 40 percent above the 30-day average, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters data.
Fed officials gave mixed messages on Thursday. With one playing down the odds of imminent bond buying and another seeing a lot of reasons for more easing, investors scaled back their expectations for economic stimulus. "After the initial thoughts from the Fed statement yesterday, we saw some short-covering (in metals markets) and that has run its course now," Gayle Berry, an analyst at Barclays Capital, said.