Chicago 29/08/2016 - Base and precious markets were little changed to start the new week with UK investors sidelined due to a bank holiday.
Copper for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was last down 0.10 cents or 0.1 percent to $2.0775 per pound. Trade has ranged from $2.0720 to $2.0860.
Comex gold for December delivery gained $1.40 or 0.1 percent to $1,327.40. Earlier, the precious metal touched $1,317.20, the lowest since July 25.
Markets mostly traded on last week's revelation that the Federal Reserve – led by chairwoman Janet Yellen – are more confident that the economy can handle another rate hike before the year concludes
Her colleagues – led by vice chair Stanley Fischer – were optimistic after labour and housing date demonstrate that the economy is heading into its eighth year of expansion. prediction markets are now roughly assessing a 25 percent chance of a September hike and fifty-fifty in December.
As a result, the dollar staged a major recovery – last trading at 95.55 – weighing on the base and precious metals complex.
"Like many other commodities, copper should be undermined by the residual hawkish track coming from the Fed meeting at Jackson Hole which seems to have ushered in a "risk off" tone, a
stronger dollar and rising rate fears," The Hightower Report noted.
In a light data day, Dallas manufacturing figures and personal income are scheduled for release.
The US August jobs report headlines this week's economic calendar and will be released this coming Friday with the market expecting a non-farm employment change of 186,000.
Meanwhile in US equities, the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P were each up 0.7 percent, while the dollar gained 0.1 percent to $1.1191 against the euro.
In other commodities, light sweet crude (WTI) Oil futures on the Nymex slipped 43 cents or 0.9 percent to $47.21 per barrel, while the most active Comex silver contract was last trading at $18.825 per ounce, up 17.4 cents.
(Editing by Tom Jennemann)