BS: Copper Little Changed in Asia, Poised for Second Weekly Decline
By Glenys Sim
April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Copper was little changed in Asia, heading for a second weekly decline, as the outlook for demand dimmed after China moved to rein in property speculation and Greece prepared to ask euro-region governments for a loan.
The metal for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange was at $7,683 a metric ton at 2:49 p.m. in Singapore, after gaining as much as 0.9 percent earlier. The contract is down 1 percent this week after China ordered developers not to take deposits for sales of uncompleted apartments without proper approval and clamped down on loans for third-home purchases to cool rising prices.
Futures also pared gains as the dollar climbed to the highest level in almost a year against the euro ahead of a meeting between Group of 20 finance ministers today to discuss Greece’s deficit. Dollar-denominated commodities tend to move inversely to the U.S. currency.
“Optimism about the global economic recovery and its implications for higher consumption has already been priced into the market,” Zhang Tao, an analyst at Cinda Futures Co., said from Zhejiang. “There still exists many problems that will keep a lid on prices, including high inventory levels, ongoing uncertainties in the global economy and China’s moves to cool growth.”
Copper consumption in China, may rise 8 percent to 6.05 million tons this year, Beijing Antaike Information Development Co. said yesterday. The state researcher joins CRU International Ltd. and Xstrata Plc in predicting higher usage this year in the world’s largest metals consumer.
Stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange have surged 95 percent this year, and stood at 185,895 tons last week, the highest level since at least 2003. Inventories tallied by the London Metal Exchange are more than double the level before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed in September 2008.
Aluminum fell 0.3 percent to $2,314 a ton, zinc lost 0.8 percent to $2,399.50 a ton, and lead slid 0.4 percent to $2,299 a ton. Nickel shed 0.9 percent to $26,850 a ton, and tin hadn’t traded.
--Editors: Richard Dobson, Ravil Shirodkar.
To contact the reporter for this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Dobson at rdobson@bloomberg.net
