71.   Dealers feared that a fall in orders from Japan might provoke continued losses in the copper market, after heavy Japanese buying early this year.

72.   The US regulatory agency investigating the copper market on Wednesday denied reports it had found the Japanese trading firm Sumitomo uncooperative and was weighing a complaint against it.

73.   Trading on the copper market here remained calm, with no sign of panic, analysts said.

74.   Wilson said the copper market was headed for a period of oversupply, but that this would be smaller and of shorter duration than some pessimistic forecasts.

75.   It was referring to the Tokyo branch of British trading house Winchester Commodities, through which Sumitomo did business on the London copper market.

76.   Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal said that numerous European and US banks had lent Sumitomo vast sums to finance its trading on the copper market.

77.   On a downward note, dealers said the biggest threat to the copper market was its own price, with some traders noting that US consumer demand was steadying.

78.   Strike action has also set the copper market ablaze.

79.   Tension has been high on the copper market recently because of the expiry of the September options contract for the metal earlier this week.

80.   The announcement sent the copper market here into a feverish state, but traders held their nerve and there was no collapse in prices, analysts said.