Investing.com - Copper futures fell on Monday to trade close to a two-week low as investors gauged the health of China’s economy.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper for September delivery hit a session low of $3.199 a pound, the weakest level since July 23, before trimming losses to last trade at $3.206 during European morning hours, down 0.26%, or 0.8 cents.
Copper ended Friday’s session down 0.51%, or 1.6 cents, to settle at $3.214 a pound. Futures were likely to find support at $3.193, the low from July 23 and resistance at $3.255, the high from August 1.
Official data released on Sunday showed that activity in China's services sector weakened to a six-month low of 54.2 in July from 55.0 in June.
Data last week showed that China's manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to a two-year high of 51.7 in July from 51.0 in June.
Still, China's HSBC final manufacturing PMI for July ticked down to 51.7 from a preliminary reading of 52.0.
Investors worried that growing inventories of the industrial metal in Shanghai warehouses pointed to a slowdown in demand from the world’s largest copper consumer.
Increases in stockpiles usually signal a decline in demand. China is the world's biggest buyer of copper, accounting for roughly 40% of the market.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for December delivery tacked on 0.08%, or $1.10, to trade at $1,295.90 a troy ounce, while silver for September delivery picked up 0.37%, or 7.6 cents, to trade at $20.44 an ounce.
Gold remained supported above the $1,290-level as Friday’s disappointing U.S. jobs report dampened optimism over the strength of the labor market and reduced expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin to raise rates sooner than previously thought.