By Jae Hur July 5 (Bloomberg) -- Copper advanced for a second day as a decline in U.S. unemployment and a drop in stockpiles to the lowest in seven months boosted confidence in the global economic recovery. Three-month delivery copper rose 1.7 percent to $6,520 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange at 11:38 a.m. in Tokyo. The contract lost 5.3 percent last week. Aluminum increased 0.8 percent to $1,952 a ton and zinc jumped 3.1 percent to $1,835. The U.S. jobless rate dropped to 9.5 percent in June from 9.7 percent the prior month, the Labor Department said July 2. Stockpiles of copper tracked by the LME declined for an 11th day on July 2 to 447,300 tons, the lowest level since Dec. 4. “Copper is supported a bit by the positive job data from the U.S. and a drop in stockpiles” at London Metal Exchange warehouses, said Hironobu Yamamura, a trader at Sumitomo Corp.’s commodity business department. Bookings to remove metal from warehouses, or so-called canceled warrants, touched 35,000 tons on July 1, the highest level since March 3. Of the total, those in South Korea climbed to 14,550 tons, the highest level since March 11, 2009. They have since eased 1.2 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. The recent increase of canceled warrants at LME warehouses in South Korea reflects tight supplies in East Asia, including China, the world’s biggest consumer of the industrial metal, Yamamura said. Copper also gained on speculation that last week’s price drop and a rebound in equities lured investors, Yamamura said. Prices may stay in a range between $6,200 and $6,800, he said. U.S. markets are closed today for the Independence Day holiday. Trading may be “relatively quiet” due to lower liquidity, Yamamura said. Shanghai Gains Copper for October delivery gained 0.3 percent at 52,350 yuan ($7,728) a ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange at 10:41 a.m. local time. Shanghai aluminum climbed 0.3 percent to 14,820 yuan and zinc rose 0.4 percent to 15,165 yuan. “A halt in the decline of equities lends support to metal prices,” Zeng Chao, an analyst at Everbright Futures Co. said from Shanghai. “Equities and metals haven’t really shaken off pressure from bearish economic data.” Lead for three-month delivery in London added 1.2 percent to $1,774 a ton, nickel advanced 0.5 percent to $18,900 a ton and tin climbed 0.4 percent to $17,300 a ton. --With assistance from Xiaowei Li in Shanghai. Editors: Richard Dobson, Ravil Shirodkar. To contact the reporter on this story: Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Dobson at rdobson4@bloomberg.net

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