Investing.com - Copper prices rose to a two-week high on Tuesday, as concerns over a disruption to supplies from the world's third largest mine in Indonesia boosted prices.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper for December delivery rose to a session high of $3.082 a pound, the most since October 15.
Prices last traded at $3.077 a pound during European morning hours, up 1.3 cents, or 0.41%.
Futures were likely to find support at $3.026, the low from October 27, and resistance at $3.085, the high from October 15.
Workers at Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg mine in Indonesian will hold a one-month strike starting next week, a union official said on Monday, over concern about worker safety.
Grasberg is one of the world's largest copper mines. In 2013, Freeport sold 885 million pounds of copper from Grasberg.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold futures for December delivery shed $1.90, or 0.15%, to trade at $1,227.40 a troy ounce, while silver futures for December delivery inched up 6.2 cents, or 0.36% to trade at $17.22 an ounce.
The Fed was likely to announce the conclusion of its asset purchasing stimulus program, known as quantitative easing on Wednesday, but was also expected to reassure markets that interest rates will remain on hold for some time to come.
Investors will be scrutinizing the Fed's statement for indications about a possible rate hike and its view on the global economy.
Data on Monday showing that German business confidence fell to the lowest level since December 2012 this month added to fears over the outlook for fourth quarter growth in the euro area’s largest economy.
Recent signs of a slowdown in growth in Europe and China fuelled speculation the U.S. central bank could stick to its cautious outlook on monetary policy and delay possible rate hikes.
Market players looked ahead to the release of key U.S. data later in the session for further indications on the strength of the economy.
The U.S. was to release data on durable goods orders for September as well as a report by the Conference Board on consumer confidence for October.
Data on Monday showed U.S. services sector activity in October slowed to a six-month low, while pending home sales in September rose less than expected, dampening optimism over the strength of the economy.