COPPER stocks had a less than stellar time on the bourse today, with an unnamed trader commenting to Dow Jones Newswires that copper traders were watching and waiting on macroeconomic developments for cues, with the red metal’s price depending on potential strikes in South America and thinner trading volumes in the Northern Hemisphere. The metal added $US36 (0.5%) to $US7618 per tonne to its spot price while its three-month price gained $40 (0.5%) to $7540/t.