Copper futures settled down on Monday as the US dollar strengthened against its major peers and ahead of the Christmas holidays. Meanwhile, investors are bracing for a less aggressive path of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve next year. Copper prices declined further after the International Copper Study Group said that the global refined copper market was in a 287,000 metric ton surplus for the first 10 months of 2024.
Copper futures for March delivery lost $0.0155 to settle at $4.0850 a pound on the Comex metals division of New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper on the London Metal Exchange was down by 0.32 percent at $8,912 a ton.