Copper steady

Reuters

London

Copper steadied alongside the dollar though some analysts expect prices to retreat further as the market fully digests prospects for weak demand growth in top consumer China.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange ended little changed at $4,685 a tonne from $4,686 at Monday's close. Earlier on Tuesday, the metal used in power and construction touched $4,672, its lowest since April 12.

The sell-off in copper started last week due to a stronger U.S. currency, which makes dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for non-U.S. firms, and as weak manufacturing data from China raised doubts about demand.

Chinese trade data over the weekend reinforced those doubts. Copper is down nearly seven percent so far this month.

"A lot of the trading in recent days was based on dollar moves, but people are now paying attention to fundamentals.