re: bullish usd index New York copper futures fell sharply on...

re: bullish usd index New York copper futures fell sharply on Friday to below $3.00 a lb for the first time in nearly six months, when the dollar rallied against the euro following U.S. industrial production data, traders said.

The dollar rallied after the output data's release, sparking a new round of copper selling in London that spilled over to the U.S. red metal market.

"I think it's (copper) been hinting at that for much of the week. The market's been making lower lows. We hit some stops under $3.03 in the March position. Some of the economic data wasn't particularly metal friendly," James Quinn, AG Edwards commodity commentator, adding that other industrial metals also weakened, including platinum, palladium and silver.

Copper for March delivery slid 5.65 cents to $3.0010 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division.

It tumbled earlier to a low at $2.9780 a lb, the first time it traded beneath $3.00 a lb since June 28. The session high was $3.0780 a lb.

Spot December was down 4.50 cents at $3.00 a lb. Other contracts lost from 2.95 to 7.00 cents.

COMEX copper volume at 10:00 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) was 2,000 lots.

While the two U.S. economic reports were not especially bearish for copper, they were also not strong as needed to inspire enough buying to counteract sellers looking for profits as they close their books for the year.
Before the year end, the market is feeling the wrath of year-end positioning and less than exuberant data for metals," said Quinn.

U.S. November industrial production rose 0.2 percent, more than forecasts for a 0.1 percent gain.

Earlier, U.S. consumer prices and core consumer prices were both unexpectedly flat in November as energy and transportation costs fell. Economists polled by Reuters expected both the consumer price headline and the prices excluding food and energy costs would rise by 0.2 percent.

Copper traders also pointed to a rise in London Metal Exchange warehouse copper stocks along with a gain in week Shanghai warehouse inventories for the selling.

London Metal Exchange warehouse stocks rose by 1,125 tonnes on Friday to 174,100 tonnes. COMEX copper inventories fell by 2,601 short tons to 31,725 tons on Thursday.

The Shanghai Futures Exchange reported warehouse inventories of 27,681 tonnes for the week ended Dec. 14, up from 27,594 a week earlier.

LME three-months copper declined to $6,640 a tonne, well below $6,770 a tonne at Thursday's kerb close.