METALS-Copper down ahead of EU summit; China demand eyed - Reuters

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Tue Jun 26, 2012 10:07pm EDT

  SHANGHAI, June 27 (Reuters) - London copper dropped on  Wednesday, snapping two straight days of gains, as investors  shied away from riskier assets on growing conviction a European  summit this week will fail to resolve the region's intractable  debt crisis.       But signs top copper buyer China may be slowly restocking  with prices near 2012 lows are likely to check losses.                            FUNDAMENTALS      * Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange   fell 0.3 percent to $7,335.50 a tonne by 0126 GMT.       * The most-active October copper contract on the Shanghai  Futures Exchange fell 0.1 percent to 53,580 yuan  ($8,400) a tonne, stretching losses to a fourth session.      * European Council President Herman Van Rompuy on Tuesday  released a report on closer fiscal and banking union, envisaging  a euro zone treasury that would issue common debt in the medium  term. But Germany, two days before the June 28-29 summit, flatly  rejected the idea of common euro zone bonds.      * German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe would not  share total debt liability "as long as I live".       * Spain's short-term borrowing costs nearly tripled at  auction on Tuesday, underlining the country's precarious  finances as it struggles against recession and juggles with a  debt crisis among its newly downgraded banks.       * U.S. home prices picked up in April for the third month in  a row, the latest indication that a recovery in the housing  market is gaining traction. But in a sign of the struggles still  facing the broader economy, separate data on Tuesday showed  consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in five months in  June.       * Copper prices are expected to be supported on indications  of restocking by China due to a favourable price arbitrage.        * For the top stories in metals and other news, click     , or                              MARKET NEWS      *  Asian shares were flat and the euro pressured on  Wednesday ahead of the EU summit this week, with Germany  staunchly opposed to sharing the region's debt burden.                    DATA/EVENTS (GMT)  0600  Germany  Import prices    1230  U.S.     Durable goods orders                   1230  U.S.     Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index   1400  U.S.     Pending home sales                                                                            Base metals prices at 0126 GMT    Metal              Last       Change   Pct Move YTD pct chg    LME Cu            7335.50    -23.50     -0.32     -3.48    SHFE CU FUT OCT2    53580       -40     -0.07     -3.69    LME Alum          1847.25      2.25     +0.12     -8.55    SHFE AL FUT OCT2    15040       -25     -0.17     -5.05    HG COPPER JUL2     330.80     -0.50     -0.15     -3.73    LME Zinc          1778.00      2.00     +0.11     -3.63    SHFE ZN FUT OCT2    14230       -85     -0.59     -3.82    LME Nickel       16300.00     25.00     +0.15    -12.88    LME Lead          1769.00      1.00     +0.06    -13.07    SHFE PB FUT         14400       -80     -0.55     -5.82    LME Tin          18560.00      0.00     +0.00     -3.33    LME/Shanghai arb     726        Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months     ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE    third month   ($1 = 6.3629 Chinese yuan)     (Reporting by Carrie Ho; Editing by Himani Sarkar)  

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