Copper began the new week on shaky ground on Monday, falling under the weight of a stronger dollar and European debt-contagion fears after the failure of Greece so far to approve the terms of a new bailout package. In New York, the key March COMEX contract fell 3.70 cents or 1 percent to settle at $3.8645 per lb, after dealing between $3.8280 and $3.9020.
Copper fell in sympathy with the euro after a European Commission spokesman said Greece had gone beyond the deadline for finalising talks on a second financing package from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund, adding that Athens needed urgently to take decisions. "The longer this Greek situation drags on, the more disruptive it is for the market," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said.