COMEX Copper futures extend downside under $4.20 mark amid firm dollar overseas. The red metal currently trades down 0.30% at $4.17 per pound - testing one week low. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq pulled back off its best levels going into the close but still ended the day up 247.17 points or 1.2 percent at 20,173.89. The S&P 500 also climbed 22.99 points or 0.4 percent to 6,074.08, while the narrower Dow bucked the uptrend and fell 110.58 points or 0.3 percent to 43,717.48. Data yesterday showed China’s retail sales rose by 3% in November from a year ago, according to National Bureau of Statistics data. That marked a sharp slowdown from 4.8% growth in the previous month. Retail sales in October had recorded the quickest growth since February, helped by the annual Singles’ Day shopping festival that kicked off more than a week earlier than the event in 2023. The other data pointers from China were decent. China’s November industrial production rose by 5.4% from a year ago, accelerating from a climb of 5.3% in the prior month. China’s fixed asset investment during January to November 2024, showed an increase of 3.3 percent from the previous year. This was slightly weaker than the 3.4 percent expansion seen during January to October.