Copper slips after best week in more than a year

LONDON: Copper fell on Monday as a firmer dollar prompted some profit taking in the metal after its biggest weekly rise in more than a year, while aluminium rose as the United States said it was considering import tariffs on the metal.

Copper, widely used in construction, surged 7 percent last week as a rebound in stock markets showed increasing appetite for risk, and as the dollar tumbled, boosting the appeal of assets priced in the U.S. currency.

"Financial markets have had quite a volatile month, and that has also been the case for copper," Danske Bank analyst Jens Pedersen said. "Today it could simply be a case of the dollar strengthening a bit, and that weighing on base metals."

"We are heading for another round of manufacturing PMIs this week, which is a gauge of how industrial activity is doing - whether it is still moving ahead at a relatively strong pace, which should cap downside for copper and other base metals, or whether it is close to a peak. That is what the market is looking at right now."