METALS-Copper edges up, cheered by China, US housing data - Reuters

• Tweet
• Share this
• Email
• Print

Thu Jul 19, 2012 2:49am EDT

  * Copper up on hopes of China easing this weekend - traders      * China house prices up in June, shows policy traction      * Coming up: European Central Bank governing council meeting     (Updates prices; adds quotes, details)      By Carrie Ho      SHANGHAI, July 19 (Reuters) - Copper inched higher on  Thursday after better-than-expected housing data from the United  States and China eased concerns about the impact on demand from  a slowdown in the global economy.      Prices were also propped up by investors' expectations that  China may announce further monetary easing measures as soon as  this weekend after Premier Wen Jiabao recently said the  government would step up efforts to boost the economy in the  second half of the year.        Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose  0.7 percent to $7,691 per tonne by 0454 GMT, extending modest  gains after ending the prior session 0.6 percent higher.      The most active November copper contract on the Shanghai  Futures Exchange rose 0.4 percent to 55,970 yuan  ($8,800) per tonne, after falling 0.3 percent previously.      "Prices haven't moved much today as buying power is still  not strong. But talk in the market that Beijing may be  announcing more monetary easing over the weekend is keeping the  shorts at bay for now," said Orient Futures Derivatives  department director Andy Du.      Gains were capped, however, by the euro zone's financial  woes, especially after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a  solution to the bloc's problems was not yet in sight.         In the United States, data showed the groundbreaking of new  homes rose in June to its highest pace in over three years,  easing some worries about an economy showing signs of  cooling.       A day earlier, data showed China's home prices broke eight  straight months of decline to rise in June.       In physical markets, traders said their copper sales were  much lower compared to a year ago.      "In the copper downstream markets, there is a slight pick-up  in state grid construction and construction, but these are still  too weak now to boost overall demand," said an analyst with a  trading firm.      Chinese traders hope infrastructure investments in the next  few months will prop up demand. According to media reports,  China's big four state banks doubled their pace of lending in  the first half of July from a month ago in part due to a pickup  in borrowing by government-led investment schemes.                                                                             Base metals prices at 0454 GMT    Metal              Last       Change   Pct Move YTD pct chg    LME Cu            7691.00     54.00     +0.71      1.20    SHFE CU FUT NOV2    55970       210     +0.38      0.61    LME Alum          1916.00      7.00     +0.37     -5.15    SHFE AL FUT OCT2    15545       -20     -0.13     -1.86    HG COPPER SEP2     348.90      1.50     +0.43      1.54    LME Zinc          1874.00      6.00     +0.32      1.57    SHFE ZN FUT OCT2    14815        30     +0.20      0.14    LME Nickel       16173.00     73.00     +0.45    -13.56    LME Lead          1906.25     -3.75     -0.20     -6.33    SHFE PB FUT         15020        60     +0.40     -1.77    LME Tin          18800.00      0.00     +0.00     -2.08    LME/Shanghai arb    1353        Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months     ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE    third month   ($1 = 6.3702 Chinese yuan)     (Reporting by Carrie Ho; Editing by Miral Fahmy)  

• Tweet this
• Link this
• Share this
• Digg this
• Email
• Reprints

Comments (0)

This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.