COMEX copper futures fell early Thursday after a labour strike was averted in Chile, but light fund buying and the dollars weakness lifted the red metal off its lows, traders said.
"Copper was lower because they settled the strike in Chile overnight, but we came back a little. Weve actually seen what looks like some fresh buying by some funds. That's why we came back from the lows," said one copper trader.
Chiles Collahuasi copper mine and union workers reached a wage and benefits settlement late on Wednesday, mine and union officials said, ruling out a strike that had been planned for Thursday.
Strike talk at the mine, the worlds sixth-largest producer of copper concentrate, contributed to coppers rise to one-month highs on Wednesday.
COMEX active September copper was down 0.60 cent at $1.2490 per lb, trading between $1.2370 and $1.2550 below the one-month high of $1.26 hit Wednesday. Spot July dropped 0.45 cent to $1.2525. Only a few other nearby contracts traded and were down 0.40 to 0.60 cent.
COMEX estimated 10:00 am EDT (1400 GMT) copper volume at a light 5,000 lots. COMEX floor brokers said the copper selling was mainly from arbitrageurs in London.
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