Copper futures settled down on Friday after stronger-than-expected US December jobs report reduced expectations for an early Federal Reserve interest rate cut this year. Moreover, concerns over demand from the world’s top meal consumer China and ongoing geopolitical tensions also weighed on red metal prices.
Copper futures for March delivery lost $0.0380 to settle at $3.8060 a pound on the Comex metals division of New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper on the London Metal Exchange was down by 0.04 percent at $8,463 a ton.