Copper futures settled down on Wednesday as the US dollar strengthened against its major peers overseas following the unexpected decline in US April existing home sales and after the minutes of recent Federal Reserve meeting showed that some policymakers were open to raising interest rates further to bring down inflation. Copper prices weakened further by profit taking in the market.
Copper futures for July delivery lost $0.2575 to settle at $4.8485 a pound on the Comex metals division of New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper on the London Metal Exchange was down by 4.05 percent at $10,419 a ton.