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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

METALS-Copper up on China PMI data; euro zone crisis to cap gains - Reuters

Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:23am EDT

  * LME Copper jumps more than 1 pct after China PMI data      * HSBC flash China manufacturing PMI grew at fastest in 9  mths      * Spanish bond yields hit euro-era high above 7.5 pct      * Moody's cuts Germany's outlook to negative      * Coming up: Redbook weekly U.S. retail sales; 1255 GMT     (Updates prices, adds quotes, details)      By Carrie Ho      SHANGHAI, July 24 (Reuters) - London copper rebounded on  Tuesday after better-than-expected July manufacturing output in  top metals consumer China temporarily offset investor worries  that Spain's debt problems would undermine global demand for  metals.      The HSBC Flash China manufacturing purchasing managers index  (PMI) rose to 49.5 in July from 48.2 in June, growing at the  fastest pace in nine months and nearing the 50 level that  divides expansion from contraction.       "China's PMI data beat market expectations and gave shorts a  reason to cover today," said Orient Futures derivatives director  Andy Du.          The news helped three-month copper on the London Metal  Exchange jump 1.1 percent to $7,485 per tonne, before  giving up some gains to trade at $7,471 by 0346 GMT. The  contract had dipped to the lowest level since June 28 on Monday  after news that Spain might need to resort to a full sovereign  bailout.      The most active November copper contract on the Shanghai  Futures Exchange gained 0.4 percent to 54,610 yuan  ($8,600) per tonne after falling to the lowest since June 29 in  the previous session.      "But underlying sentiment is still bearish, given the  fragile state of the global economy, and we are not taking our  eyes off developments in the euro zone," said Du, signalling  that gains may be capped worries over the troubled bloc.      Spain's economy sank deeper into recession in the second  quarter, its central bank said on Monday, as a funding crisis in  its regions pushed the country closer to a full bailout and with  Spanish bond yields at a euro-era high above 7.5 percent.          Even Europe's strongest economies may not be immune to the  fallout from the region's debt crisis as Moody's Investors  Service on Monday changed its outlook for Germany, the  Netherlands and Luxembourg to negative from stable.         In Italy, the euro zone's third-largest economy that is seen  as the next weakest link after Spain, media reported that ten  cities faced problems managing their finances, underlying  growing concern about the sustainability of the country's local  finances and echoing events in Spain.          Investors will likely trawl through factory activity and  other data out of the euro zone due later in the session for  more hints on how the single-currency region is faring.       Although an upcoming speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman  Ben Bernanke is not expected to yield further stimulus measures,  it may shed more light on the state of the world's largest  economy along with a slew of factory activity and retail  numbers.      "The next important data to scour for trading cues are the  various PMI data out of Europe and U.S. retail numbers tonight.  Should they turn out worse than expected, today's rally could  easily fade," a Shanghai-based trader said.                                                                          Base metals prices at 0346 GMT    Metal              Last       Change   Pct Move YTD pct chg    LME Cu            7471.00     70.00     +0.95     -1.70    SHFE CU FUT NOV2    54610       240     +0.44     -1.83    LME Alum          1882.00      4.00     +0.21     -6.83    SHFE AL FUT OCT2    15400        45     +0.29     -2.78    HG COPPER SEP2     338.95      0.95     +0.28     -1.35    LME Zinc          1827.00     13.00     +0.72     -0.98    SHFE ZN FUT NOV2    14555        90     +0.62     -1.62    LME Nickel       15668.00     68.00     +0.44    -16.26    LME Lead          1871.00     11.00     +0.59     -8.06    SHFE PB FUT         14860        55     +0.37     -2.81    LME Tin          18400.00     50.00     +0.27     -4.17    LME/Shanghai arb    1222        Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months     ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE    third month   ($1 = 6.3864 Chinese yuan)     (Editing by Ed Davies and Chris Lewis)  

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