US copper ends below $2/lb, data feeds correction
NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - U.S. copper futures ended down at a two-week low below $2.00 a lb on Thursday, after disappointing housing and labor data slammed sentiment and re-energized a technical correction from last week's rally to six-month peaks.
For detailed report on global copper markets, click on [MET/L]
* Copper for July delivery HGN9 shed 6.95 cents, or 3.4 percent, to settle at $1.9910 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division.
* Session ranged from a two-week low at $1.9650 to $2.1005.
* COMEX estimated electronic futures volumes at 20,989 lots by 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT). Final volume on Wednesday hit 25,764 lots.
* Open interest grew by 673 lots to 104,409 contracts open as of April 22.
* COMEX copper values spiral down in technical correction from triple-top chart formation last week below $2.25 a lb - John Gross, publisher of the Copper Journal.
* Copper's price correction exacerbated by earlier losses in equity markets and data showing a further deterioration in the labor and housing sectors of the economy - Sterling Smith, vice president with FuturesOne in Chicago.
* The pace of previously owned homes in the U.S. fell 3.0 percent in March to a 4.57 million-annual rate. February's rate was initially reported as 4.72 million, but was revised down to 4.71 million. [ID:nN22540525] Continued...
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