In New York, the May COMEX contract fell by 5.45 cents, or 1.4 percent, to settle at $3.8480 per lb on Wednesday, near the bottom end of its $3.8335 to $3.9180 session range. The loss dragged COMEX copper prices back toward the middle of a well-worn range this year, between $3.70 and $4. "I could easily see it challenge the $3.70 area again," McGillivray said.
"That's an area where you could be looking to enter long. Near $4, you'd be looking at taking profits." Volumes remained relatively thin midway through the week. A little more than 48,700 lots traded in late New York trade, more than a third below the 30-day norm, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters data.