Copper futures ease 0.53 per cent on profit-booking

Copper futures traded 0.53 per cent lower at Rs 442.75 today as speculators cut down positions at prevailing levels to book profits even as metal strengthened overseas.

In futures trading at the Multi Commodity Exchange, copper for delivery in current month fell Rs 2.35, or 0.53 per cent at Rs 442.75 per kg, in a business turnover of 1,969 lots.

Similarly, the metal for delivery in far-month February was down Rs 2.25, or 0.50 per cent at Rs 448.75 per kg in 67 lots.

Analysts attributed the fall in copper futures to profit-booking by speculators who trimmed their positions at existing levels but a firm trend in base metals, capped the fall.

Meanwhile, copper for three-month delivery ended up 0.4 per cent at USD 6,855 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange yesterday, despite customs data showing a sharp drop in imports by China as the country's winter anti-pollution programme cuts down refinery and blast furnace production.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)