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Comex copper

finish lower

NEW YORK: The copper rally which pushed COMEX copper to new contract highs on two consecutive days spluttered to a halt as funds stepped back for the time being.

"We hit some fund sell stops at about 141 cents. The market did not really follow through in the afternoon," a floor source said on Thursday.

September settled 0.45 cent lower at 141.30 cents a lb, after trading between 143.40 - a new contract high - and 140.70 cents.

Volume slumped back to an estimated 11,000 lots from yesterday's official 16,510 lots.

All contracts traded today ended lower, with December - the next active contract - down 0.40 cent a lb at 136.70 cents a lb, after reaching a contract high at 138.60 cents in the morning.

LME copper also fell back to close below its earlier seven-month high of $3,063 a tonne for the three months contract.

PaineWebber's Bernard Savaiko said there was a lot of disappointment that the market failed to clear the 143 cents resistance level. The spread between September and December was also weak on occasions.

"The market should continue to find support at 140 cents. If that fails, it would indicate the market has hit top for the time being," Savaiko.-Reuter