Copper for delivery in three months MCU3 on the London
Metal Exchange (LME) ended down $155, or 2.2 percent, at $6,775
per tonne. Earlier copper, used widely in power and
construction, touched a one-week low of $6,768.

 "It will be a nervous weekend while people are waiting to
see how the bailout plan goes," said Nick Moore, commodities
strategist at RBS.

  Pressure mounted on U.S. lawmakers on Friday to agree on a
$700 billion financial rescue plan after talks at the White
House collapsed in acrimony and the failure of Washington
Mutual, the biggest bank closure in U.S. history, roiled global
markets. [ID:nN22402709]

 To put the $700 billion into perspective, the current value
of the world's total country central bank gold reserves amounts
to $750 billion, RBS said in a research note.

 "It's the wide financial background that is of key concern
and metals and other financial markets are pretty much sidelined
and not having any momentum of their own," Calyon analyst Robin
Bhar said.

 Markets shrugged off news of a strike in Canada. Workers at
Xstrata's (XTA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Kidd copper-zinc metallurgical operations
having overwhelmingly approved a strike mandate.[ID:nN26317326