Copper futures traded at $6.5 per pound on Wednesday, retaining most of their decline from the record high of $6.7 reached on August 25. Rising long-term bond yields, rebounding energy prices and concern over widening public deficits weakened the outlook for broad manufacturing and eased base-metal prices. At the same time, escalating conflict in the Middle East prolonged pressure on global sulfuric acid supplies, creating shortages of the material used by copper refiners. Concerns that the U.S. presidential administration could impose tariffs on unprocessed copper goods prompted buyers to bring deliveries forward. The resulting demand helped steepen backwardation curves, a market structure in which near-term prices exceed later prices, across major Western copper exchanges.