Copper near three-month low

Reuters

Melbourne

London copper held near three-month lows on Tuesday, pressured by a firmer U.S. dollar following comments by Federal Reserve officials that have bolstered expectations of a June rate hike.

The Fed is on track to raise rates in June or July and will continue with even more hikes next year given U.S. economic strength, a top Fed official said on Monday.

A firmer dollar cuts the purchasing power of consumers paying for commodities with other currencies. 

"In addition to a less accommodative rate environment that should continue to pressure base metals over the short-term, we also suspect that technicals are turning against the group," Ed Meir of INTL FC Stone said.  "As a result, a number of funds that have piled in to metals over the last several weeks may now be looking to change course.  "Three-month copper on the LME had edged up 0.1 percent to $4,565 a tonne by 0058 GMT, after posting light losses in the previous session.