MARKET TALK: Comex Copper Futures Slide; Sell Stops Hit

Comex copper is on the defensive, with some sell stops apparently touched when the market was unable to hold the $3.56 to $3.57 area, says Jim Quinn, commodity floor analyst with A.G. Edwards. July copper is down 7.05 cents to $3.5350 a pound. However, Quinn says, the decline could be overdone when looking at the arbitrage with London and considering there was another LME stock draw and there is a potential strike threat in Peru. Some of copper's weakness is due to a stronger dollar and weaker crude oil and gold, he adds. Also, "the spread structure looks weaker," says Quinn. "May is at a steeper discount to the July. But I think it's mostly technical in nature."