The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 1.48 percent to 47,220 yuan ($6,865) a tonne on Thursday, with traders attributing the modest retreat to profit-taking and a switch to equities. "Copper is a little cheaper today and that had a positive effect," said a trader in Perth. "Other than that, the fundamentals appear intact, with stronger demand probably coming from China next year."
ANZ Bank said in a note that copper appeared to be consolidating, with a lack of catalysts likely to keep prices range-bound. Copper prices surged 20 percent last month. Momentum was driven by hopes that US President-elect Donald Trump would spend more on infrastructure and that Chinese economic activity and speculative spending would pick up.
China's retail investors have flocked to metals, given a cooling property market and because many were burned in the country's stock market meltdown last year. A flood of data from China in coming weeks is expected to show the economy growing at a steady pace in November, according to a Reuters poll.