Copper futures declined Tuesday on pressure from lower equities as participants booked profits.

July copper lost 6.15 cents to settle at $2.0825 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"Copper was accelerating a little bit faster than other markets last week," said Michael Gross, broker and futures analyst with OptionSellers.com.

"It's been a leader up, and it's been a leader down," he said.

Shortly after copper closed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 36 points. Since copper is widely used in construction, electronics and automobiles, it often responds to economic news or proxies for the economy, such as equities.

Also, "copper is experiencing a little bit of a technical sell off," said Sterling Smith, vice president with FuturesOne.

"Copper has been a super-stellar performer this year," he said.

But now it appears the metal could be entering a range, possibly from $1.91 to $2.30, Smith said.

"We're overbought," said Frank Lesh, broker and futures analyst with FuturePath trading.

Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell 3,775 metric tons Tuesday, leaving them at 394,925. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Monday, were unchanged at 48,056 short tons.

Copper settlements (ranges include electronic and pit trading):
May $2.0825; down 6.15 cents; Range $2.0645-$2.1770
July $2.0825.; down 6.05 cents; Range $2.0680-$2.1495
 
(Source: DOW JONES. Reporting by Matt Whittaker)