Latest News

Copper rallies, eyes on China, U.S. information

Copper rose on Monday together with equities as traders bought back their brief positions on the expectation of bottoming prices ahead of a variety of information this week from top consumer China and the United States.

Standard copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME). was up 0.9% at $8,949 a metric heap at 0923 GMT. Prices of the. metal utilized in power and construction hit a 4-1/2- month low of. $ 8,714 recently.

Installing worries of economic downturn in the United States activated a. sell-off recently throughout equity and commodity markets. Nevertheless,. much better than expected weekly U.S. jobs information assisted calm markets.

There's a reasonable amount of short-covering going on still and. some buying interest from China at these lower costs, a metals. trader stated, including that Chinese purchasers had been sidelined after. prices increased to records above $11,100 in May.

Industrial metals markets are waiting for July information due this. week on China's brand-new yuan loans and total social funding,. considered as an indication of future industrial metals need.

Likewise due from China today is data on home prices,. commercial production and urban investment.

Focus is likewise on U.S. customer rates data on Wednesday,. which could identify the timing of rate of interest cuts by the. U.S. Federal Reserve, which would mean a weaker U.S. currency. and firmer need for dollar-priced metals.

Traders likewise pointed out a more than 12,000 lot increase in. cancelled warrants, metal earmarked for shipment from. LME-registered warehouses, over a number of days recently as a. indication the uptrend in copper stocks could be ending.

Copper inventories << MCUSTX-TOTAL > in LME storage facilities at. 296,125 are up 185% since the middle of May.

On the radar, but not yet having any impact, is Zambia. closing a border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, a major. copper producer. Congo production is generally carried. through Zambia to South Africa where it is shipped out.

In other metals, aluminium was up 1% at $2,324 a. ton, zinc added 1.1% to $2,767, lead got 1.4%. to $2,066, tin advanced 0.8% to $31,550 and nickel. climbed 0.5% to $16,235.

(source: Reuters)