Copper rose for a second time in the past three sessions in New York after a drop in stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange. Copper inventories in LME-registered warehouses slipped 1,125 metric tons, or 0.2 percent, to 525,300 tons. It was the first decline in more than two weeks and the biggest percentage drop since Dec. 11. A tripling of London stockpiles contributed to copper’s 59 percent slide in the past year. The industrial metal gained “perhaps on account of a slight dip in LME inventories,” said Edward Meir, an analyst at MF Global Ltd. in Darien, Connecticut. Copper is used in pipes and wires for cars, trucks and buildings. Copper futures for May delivery rose 1.2 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $1.4545 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal has gained 3.2 percent this year. “Of the two sectors, housing and autos, the focus will be more on Detroit, and on what exactly the government intends to do after it reviews the various restructuring proposals being submitted,” Meir said earlier today in a report. General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, already relying on government aid to survive, asked for additional amounts of as much as $16.6 billion and $5 billion, respectively, as auto sales slump. Last month, sales slid 37 percent in the U.S. to a 28-year low and 27 percent in Europe to the lowest in two decades. Manufacturing and housing in the U.S. collapsed in January, government reports showed today, as the Obama administration unveiled new plans to stem the deepening recession. Declining Indicators Factory, mine and utility output declined to the lowest level in more than five years, the Federal Reserve said today in Washington, citing a 1.8 percent drop, to 101.3, in its industrial production index. Construction starts on new homes plunged 17 percent to an annual rate of 466,000, the fewest since records began in 1959, the Commerce Department reported. “The housing starts came out this morning much lower than expected,” Miguel Perez-Santalla, a sales vice president at Heraeus Precious Metals Management in New York, said in an e- mail. “Copper, which had already fallen out of bed, is still standing after the bad news.” Copper inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange, which more than doubled in the second half of last year, have soared 55 percent this year as consumption waned. Economic Link “Copper is so linked to economic activity, it’s correlated with it, so I mean we are going to feel it as it’s happening,” Richard Adkerson, chief executive officer of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., said today in a CNBC television interview. “We felt it when consumption fell off the cliff and we’ll feel it when it comes back.” On the LME, the world’s biggest metals market, copper for delivery in three months rose $50, or 1.6 percent, to $3,235 a ton ($1.47 a pound). The price set a record of $8,940 on July 2. “Some technical buying could also be coming in, as prices approach $3,000 support,” MF Global’s Meir said.

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