May high-grade copper futures fell nearly 1.6% on the week, as a stronger dollar eroded the industrial metal’s appeal as an alternative investment.

The euro slid to a 10-month low against the US dollar after government officials said the European Union may need International Monetary Fund help to bail out Greece. Portugal’s credit rating downgrade by Fitch and bleak remarks about the eurozone from UBS’s Paul Donovan, who recently said Greece ‘is going to default at some point’ also weighed on copper this week. Copper continued to decline even after Wednesday’s better-than-expected US durable goods orders, which after excluding transportation equipment rose 0.9% in February.

The market doesn’t seem to care,’ said Citigroup’s Thurtell. ‘It is too concerned about Greece and the rising dollar.’  Meanwhile, Michael K. Smith, the president of T&K Futures & Options believes that high-grade copper may drop to $3.20 in the next two weeks. ‘The dollar has to quit going higher for copper to stop the move down,’ Smith said. “After we hit $3.20, we might see some buying come back in.