Copper down 0.1% on declining inventories

Metal for delivery in February fell by 0.06%

Copper futures prices today eased by 0.11% to Rs 454.45 per kg, as speculators indulged in trimming positions even as metal strengthened overseas on declining inventories.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, copper for delivery in April eased by 50 paise, or 0.11%, to Rs 454.45 per kg in business turnover of 20 lots.

Similarly, the metal for delivery in February fell by 25 paise, or 0.06%, to Rs 448.90 per kg in 1,850 lots.

Analysts attributed the decline in copper futures prices to off-loading of positions by speculators but metal's strength at the London Metal Exchange (LME) as inventories declined for the 19th session to 429,000 tonnes.

Globally, copper for delivery in three months rose by 0.2% to $7,036.25 a tonne at the LME, while the metal for delivery in February climbed 0.4% to 50,600 yuan ($8,305) a tonne on the Shanghai Futures Exchange.