The Pound hovered near three-month lows versus the Dollar on Tuesday and stocks were mostly weaker as investors waited for British Prime Minister Theresa May to lay out plans to exit the European Union amid fears Britain will lose access to the single market.

"The main issue in the market is Theresa May's speech on hard Brexit and as a result the Dollar has strengthened, so we have some pressure on metals," Argonaut Securities analyst Helen Lau said. "Fundamentals are fine; China's property market is on track to improve.

It may scale back automobile purchase incentives but not significantly, so automobile production may continue to grow which is positive for copper."

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had fallen 1.5% to $5,778 a ton by 0729 GMT, extending losses from the previous session's 0.7% decline. The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed down 1.2% to 47,320 Yuan a ton.

The copper market is being weighed down by a stronger Dollar, with investors taking profits after prices climbed to a five-week high on Monday. Strong Chinese demand and positive economic data from the United States are supporting base metals.

Chinese customs data on Friday showed the country shipped in a record 4.95 million tons of copper in 2016. US retail sales rose in December amid strong demand for automobiles and furniture, providing further evidence that the economy ended the fourth quarter with momentum and is poised for stronger growth this year.

--Reuters--

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