Investing.com - Copper futures were little changed in lackluster trade during European morning hours on Monday, as activity was expected to remain subdued with market participants in China away for the Lunar New Year holiday. Markets in Hong Kong will remain closed until Thursday due to Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations, while markets in mainland China will be closed for the entire week. China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for March delivery traded at USD3.760 a pound during European morning trade, little changed on the day. New York-traded copper prices traded in between a range of USD3.756 a pound, the daily low and a session high of USD3.769 a pound. Copper traders were looking ahead to a meeting of the eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels later in the day, following last week’s European Union summit. EU leaders reached an agreement on a seven year budget on Friday. European governments will contribute slightly less to this budget than they did for the previous seven year budget, following calls to curb spending by Brussels. Investors were also monitoring political developments in the euro zone, amid uncertainty ahead of upcoming elections in Italy and renewed political tensions in Spain where the government has become embroiled in a corruption scandal. The euro traded near a two-week low against the greenback, while the dollar index was up 0.1% to hit 80.35, the highest level since January 10. A stronger dollar reduces demand for raw materials as an alternative investment and makes dollar-priced commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies. Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for April delivery dipped 0.2% to trade at USD1,663.45 a troy ounce, while silver for March delivery fell 0.2% to trade at USD31.37 a troy ounce.

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