LONDON- Copper prices retreated on Friday from a five-week peak as speculators locked in profits ahead of the weekend after data showed US job growth accelerated in February.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.5 percent at $8,595.50 per metric ton after touching $8,689, the strongest since Jan. 31.
US jobs data were mixed, showing nonfarm payrolls gained more than expected in February, but the unemployment rate hit a two-year high.
That gave Federal Reserve policymakers weighing when to start interest-rate cuts another reason to sit tight for now.
Al Munro at broker Marex said sell signals were triggered by computer-driven trading models, leading to profit-taking by speculative funds that had taken bullish positions.
At Friday’s peak, LME copper had gained 7 percent since hitting a low of $8,127 a month ago.
Friday’s intraday high marks the top of a recent range which copper hit in late December and the end of January, each time failing to break above and then retreating.
“In the copper market, speculative interest has been ebbing and flowing not far from neutral for quite a while simply because the market has been rangebound,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen. – Reuters