This Morning

Copper prices advanced last week but started this week on the backfoot, with COMEX futures easing to around $2.37/lb. while in London LME 3-mo. copper slipped to $5,260/mt. On the metals front, Reuters reports today that “China’s environment ministry on Monday called on China Minmetals Corp to improve implementation of environmental protection measures and oversight of subsidiaries in a less than glowing report on the state-run metals producer’s compliance.” In forex trading, the US Dollar Index was up around 1% this morning with the euro softer at $1.082 while the greenback was buying 107.4 Japanese yen. On Wall Street, stock futures were pointing lower this morning following losses at the major European exchanges.