Copper prices closed with losses on Monday in New York as fears that record highs above $4 a pound posted on last week trading, could decrease Chinese demand.

Copper futures fell 2.6 cents or 0.7 percent to $3.8665 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange by the end of trading today.

A weak economy in the United States also affected prices as worries that demand could slump appeared from a report on weak manufacturing data in April, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported last week.

Inventories of copper stored in the London Metal Exchange dropped 0.4 percent to 113,725 metric tons on Monday.

Prices of copper futures ended down $50 or 0.6 percent to $8,520 a metric ton in the London Metal Exchange today.

Meanwhile in Chile, Codelco's worker strike that triggered prices to soar above $4 a pound on Thursday, continues on Monday giving concerns to investors that the lack of supplies may lift prices again as demand may rise.

Copper