Copper prices lost ground Wednesday as global events such as Japan's crisis renewed concerns about demand in the next few months. Copper for May delivery fell 7.25 cents to settle at $4.274 a pound. The price has fallen nearly 5 % since March 1.
Investors question whether copper demand will soften with Japan's recovery from the earthquake and tsunami, Europe's ongoing financial problems and rising oil prices, CPM Group analyst Carlos Sanchez said.
Copper is used in manufacturing a variety of consumer products, from construction materials to electronics and some auto parts. Thousands of factories in Japan were idled by tsunami damage and power disruptions after the devastating earthquake earlier this month. That has left shortages of auto parts and technology components.
June palladium rose $5.15 to settle at $758.10 an ounce and July platinum gained $30 to settle at $1,774.10 an ounce. May gold added $7.60 to settle at $1,423.80 an ounce and silver gained 52.4 cents to $37.511 an ounce.
In other trading, oil prices slipped after the Energy Department said U.S. crude supplies rose more than expected last week. Crude supplies increased 2.9 million barrels to 355.7 million barrels, which is 0.4 % above year-ago levels, the Energy Information Administration said.
Analysts expected an increase of 2.2 million barrels, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Benchmark crude for May delivery lost 52 cents to settle at $104.27 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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