On Wednesday, copper was seen declining as some investors sold to lock in recent gains. Nickel also fell after inventories hit an all-time peak, signalling a glut of metal.
Over the past week, the weak dollar has helped fuel gains in base metals with copper surging more than 10 percent trough-to-peak over the week to Tuesday.
"After the significant bounce we've seen over the past week
led by copper, it's not completely surprising that base metals
are coming off ever so slightly," said Nic Brown, head of
commodities research at Natixis in London. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
slipped 0.6 percent to $6,108 a tonne by 1100 GMT.
It terminated the previous session little changed after
stretching to $6,203.50 a tonne - its highest since Jan. 5.
According to traders, copper has entered a higher band of consolidation, underpinned by the 100-day moving average at $6,084.
Brown added that the current decline is expected to be a temporary set-back, however, and copper is due to resume its uptrend, supported by less growth in output than expected.
Nickel dropped 1 percent to $13,805 a tonne after
LME inventories rose to a record high of 433,980 tonnes. Aluminium shed 1.1 dipped to $1,771 a tonne, even
after top producer Rusal said it was considering shutting down
more smelters.
