Bloomberg reported that copper fell by the most in two weeks,paring a weekly gain,as industrial metals dropped after US Federal Reserve policy makers said they will probably end their USD 85 billion monthly bond purchase program sometime this year.
Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange lost as much as 1.3%to USD 8,058 a metric tonne,the most since December 20,and was at USD 8,070 at 1:19 PM in Shanghai,paring a second straight weekly advance to 2.3%.Futures on the Comex in New York fell 1.1%to USD 3.6750 a pound.
Federal Open Market Committee minutes released for a December 11 to 12 meeting showed members who provided estimates were"approximately evenly divided"between those who said it would be appropriate to end the purchases around mid 2013 and those who said should continue beyond that date.The Dollar Index gained as much as 0.4%to 80.672 on January 4th 2013.
Mr Xiong Dabiao an analyst at Minmetals Futures Co said that"The Fed minutes have become the market concern,One of the main reasons why commodities prices have remained high in recent years is a relatively weak dollar,so if that changes,we may need to reassess reasonable price levels."
