US MIDDAY: copper sinks

In New York, the key COMEX copper contract sank 11.65 cents or 3 percent to settle at $3.8620 per lb, close to the bottom of its $3.8515 to $3.9785 session range. It hit a 5-month peak Thursday at $3.9895. Volumes picked up as investors cashed in on the red metal's recent run. More than 82,717 lots traded in late New York business, 67 percent above the 30-day norm, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters data.
On Thursday, COMEX copper futures set a new volume record of 109,426 contracts. Friday's losses pulled both London and New York copper futures down to within a hair of a key line of support at their respective 200-day moving averages. "If we get a close below the 200-day moving average, and see it hold there and even go below $3.80, maybe this will be a bigger correction that could get us into the mid $3's," said Craig Ross, vice president of ApexFutures.com in Chicago.