Copper futures little changed after Monday’s 3% rally

Investing.com - Copper futures swung between modest gains and losses on Tuesday, as investors were hesitant to extend the previous session’s strong rally which took prices to a two-week high.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for September delivery traded at USD3.154 a pound during European morning trade, down 0.1% on the day.

New York-traded copper prices traded in a range between USD3.133 a pound, the daily low and a session high of USD3.166 a pound.

Comex copper prices rallied more than 3% on Monday to hit USD3.168 a pound, the strongest level since June 19, after upbeat manufacturing data out of Europe and the U.S. helped ease concerns over the global economic outlook.

The U.S. Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.9 in June, recovering from a shock contraction in May.

Meanwhile, in the euro zone, data showed that Spain’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.0 in June, the highest level in two years, up from 48.1 in May.

France’s manufacturing PMI improved to 48.4 from 46.4 in May, but Germany’s manufacturing PMI fell to 48.6, from May's reading of 49.4.

Market players now looked ahead to Friday’s highly-anticipated U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for indications of how the recovery in the U.S. labor market is progressing.

Any improvement in the U.S. economy was likely to reinforce the view that the Federal Reserve will begin to taper its bond purchase program in the coming months.

Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for August delivery rose 0.5% to trade at USD1,262.25 a troy ounce, while silver for September delivery added 0.8% to trade at USD19.73 a troy ounce.

Gold and silver futures continued to rebound from last week’s 34-month lows as investors returned to the market to seek cheap valuations.