Copper futures settled down on Thursday after US Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that the Fed would not begin cutting interest rates at its next meeting in March. Rising geopolitical tensions also adding pressure on copper prices. However, some losses were limited by data that China's factory activity expanded in January and new export orders registered the first rise since June.
Copper futures for March delivery fell $0.0525 to settle at $3.8535 a pound on the Comex metals division of New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper on the London Metal Exchange was down by 0.86 percent at $8,534.50 a ton.