All eyes were focusing on the U.S. Federal Reserve as it began two days of meetings that are likely to end with a decision impacting the price of copper futures, according to Bloomberg.
As the Federal Open Market Committee kicked off its first day of meetings, the reddish metal was ebbing and flowing. The base metal is sensitive to domestic and international financial and economic developments due to its wide array of uses in manufacturing, construction and additional industries. The U.S. is the world's second-largest user of copper, trailing only China, which consumes about 40 percent of the globe's supply.
"It's a waiting game," chief market analyst Naeem Aslam with Ava Capital Markets Ltd. in Dublin told the news source on Tuesday. "The economic data completely warrants for tapering."
At 9:35 a.m. on Tuesday, copper futures slightly gained 0.09 percent, a 0.003-cent lift to $3.3325 per pound.
The International Business Times reports the factors that Chairman Ben Bernanke and his peers are considering include strong employment market data, reductions to the nation's jobless rate and consumer spending demonstrating strong returns. Bernanke's term as Fed chief ends early next year.
