Comex copper extends sell-off as funds liquidate

US copper futures settled lower on Thursday, extending a decline from the prior session as funds sold the market following the recent rally that had prices setting new record highs in seven consecutive sessions, sources said.
"Funds liquidated across the board today. The question on everybody's' mind is will the selling continue. Right now, the $1.75 cent level should be a holding area of support, with $1.80 cents as resistance.
It's a wide spread but the way this market moves, we could do that in one day," said one floor source.
Copper for December delivery ended the day down 2.85 cents at $1.7650 a lb. at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, near the lower end of its $1.7610 to $1.81 trading range.
During the two-day sell-off, the benchmark December contract has lost about 3.8 percent. Spot October lost 2.00 cents at $1.86 and deferred or back month contracts slipped 2.50 to 2.85 cents.
Comex final copper volume was estimated at 17,000 lots compared with 10,667 lots recorded on Wednesday. Traders noted there was little change in the fundamental outlook of the market following the two-day price decline.
The US trade shortfall in August widened to $59.0 billion, but was slightly below a median $59.5 billion estimated by economists. Record imports of $167.2 billion easily outweighed record exports of $108.2 billion.
In afternoon New York trade, the euro rebounded to trade at $1.1995 from an intro-session low at $1.1915 after the US trade data. In other news, world refined copper consumption exceeded production by 235,000 tonnes between January and July this year, against a deficit of 784,000 tonnes in the same year-ago period, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said in its latest monthly bulletin.
"World refined usage fell in July to the lowest level since April, mainly due to a decrease in Chinese apparent usage," the ICSG said in a release.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper prices slipped from late highs, pressured by declines and volatile moves in thin market conditions on Thursday. Three-month copper closed down $67 at $3,838 a tonne, after dealing between $3,840 and $3,931.