SHANGHAI: Copper fell on Monday, weighed down by technical factors and the apparent failure of US politicians to agree on trimming the country's deficit, while Spain's election of an austerity-minded government failed to ally fears about the euro zone's health.
Investors are also waiting to see if the European Central Bank will step up to take a bigger role in tackling the debt crisis, as efforts to beef up the European Financial Stability Facility remain mired in delays.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.8 percent to $7,464 a tonne by 0358 GMT, after falling 2.5 percent in the previous session.
The most-active February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 1 percent to 55,000 yuan ($8,654.06) per tonne, after falling 0.6 percent on Friday.
Analysts said technicals were not helping prices.
"Copper will go through a period of consolidation within a bear market, which means more downside risks ahead in the longer term. The Moving Average Convergence-Divergence (MACD) technical chart for LME copper shows a bearish trend developing, which is not helped by the absence of positive news out of the euro zone and United States," said CIFCO Futures analyst Zhou Jie.
"Support for ShFE copper comes from arbitrageurs buying Shanghai and selling London. But there are some fresh short positions as well, due to negative news and falling LME copper prices," he added.
A high-profile congressional effort to trim stubborn US budget deficits appeared near collapse on Friday as Democrats rejected a scaled-back proposal from Republicans that contained few tax increases. The deadline for reaching a deal is Wednesday.
Mario Draghi, chief of the European Central Bank which is under intense pressure to play a greater role in tackling the euro zone crisis, told euro zone governments on Friday to act fast to get their rescue fund up and running, expressing exasperation at their lack of progress in responding to the escalating debt crisis.
The European Commission is seeking far tighter control of national budgets to combat the debt crisis, a senior official said on Friday, as the ECB's chief urged rapid action on the fund for rescuing countries in trouble.
Spain's centre-right opposition stormed to a crushing election victory on Sunday as voters see the new government as a better steward for the economy than the discredited Socialists.
China's top copper smelter Jiangxi Copper Co. and global miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc have agreed a 12.4 percent rise in term treatment and refining charges (TC/RC) for 2012 concentrate shipments, a Jiangxi Copper source said on Saturday.
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