Reuters reported that London copper eased as caution ahead of a European Union meeting concerning a painful debt bailout deal for Greece overshadowed Friday's US jobs data that showed a brightening picture for the world's top economy.

Fundamentals;
1. Three month copper on the London Metal Exchange traded at USD 8,558.25 per tonne by 0130 GMT down 0.2% from the previous session. Copper hit a one week high on Friday of USD 8,598.50 when it closed out a fourth consecutive week of gains.

2. The most traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose by 1.67% to CNY 60,820 per tonne.

3. Worries about Greece somewhat overshadowed Friday's confidence boosting US jobs data which showed the world's biggest economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months in January. That took the unemployment rate to 3 year low of 8.3%.

4. Greece's coalition parties must tell the European Union by Monday whether they accept the painful terms of a new bailout deal worth EUR 130 billion in order to avoid a disorderly default.

5. An USD 80 billion marriage of commodities trader Glencore International and global miner Xstrata Plc could lead to a new round of takeovers in iron ore, creating a goliath eager to muscle its way onto one of mining's richest and most closely guarded sectors.

6. Shareholders in Xstrata are set to receive 2.8 shares in Glencore for each share held as the two firms try to seal a deal.

(Sourced from Reuters)