Copper futures in New York sank 2 percent in heavy dealings on Monday, falling under the weight of weaker US employment data and rising inflation in China, both of which pointed to softer economic activity in the world's two largest economies. The selling dragged copper to near the bottom of its long-standing trading range, leaving prices of the red metal vulnerable to further downside pressure if selling takes hold in London on Tuesday, when markets there reopen from the Easter holiday.
"I think you're going to start making new lows soon," said Zachary Oxman, managing director with TrendMax in Encinitas, California. "There's not enough here to keep us where we are ... $3.60's a near-term target. If things get even bleaker, $3.50 by mid-year is not at all out of the realm of possibility."
The COMEX May copper contract fell 7.55 cents or 2 percent to settle at $3.72 per lb, near the bottom of its 2012 range, roughly between $3.70 and $4. Volumes raced above 71,000 lots in late New York trade, nearly two-thirds above the 30-day norm, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters data.
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