Copper settled down -1.28% at 447.05 fell to a seven-week low on Thursday, after data confirmed a contraction in China’s manufacturing sector and following the Fed’s decision to taper its monthly bond-buying program by USD10 billion for the second consecutive meeting. China’s final HSBC PMI released earlier fell to a six-month low of 49.5 in January, down from a preliminary reading of 49.6 and compared to 50.5 in December. Meanwhile, the Fed said Wednesday that it would reduce its monthly bond buying program by USD10 billion to a total of USD65 billion a month, in a widely anticipated decision. The U.S. central bank said growth signals are encouraging, and the unemployment market shows improvement "on balance". The Fed left unchanged its statement that interest rates are likely to remain low even after the unemployment rate drops below 6.5%, the threshold at which the central bank has previously said it would start to consider rate increases. The Fed added it will keep a close eye on economic indicators before deciding to wind down its stimulus program even further. The U.S. is to publish preliminary data on fourth quarter economic growth. The nation is also to release the weekly report on initial jobless claims and data on pending home sales. Market players continued to monitor liquidity conditions in emerging markets, such as Turkey and South Africa. Emerging markets economies have been hard hit in recent sessions by worries over the impact of cuts in Fed stimulus and concerns over a possible slowdown in China. Technically market is getting support at 444.4 and below same could see a test of 441.6 level, And resistance is now likely to be seen at 451.9, a move above could see prices testing 456.6.

Trading Ideas:

Copper trading range for the day is 441.6-456.6.

Copper dropped after data confirmed a contraction in China’s manufacturing sector and following Fed's decision to taper its monthly bond-buying program

China’s final HSBC Purchasing Managers Index released earlier fell to a six-month low of 49.5 in January

Technically market is under fresh selling as market has witnessed gain in open interest by 5.3% to settled at 9935