RTRS:METALS-U.S. deficit deadlock, euro zone weigh on copper
* Copper down 0.8 pct on LME; down 1 pct on ShFE
* Washington deadlocked over deficit cuts ahead; deadline
nears
* ECB under pressure to take on bigger role in crisis
management
* Spain votes in pro-austerity government
* Coming Up: U.S. Oct exist. home sales data; 1500 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes, details)
By Carrie Ho
SHANGHAI, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Copper fell on Monday,
weighed down by technical factors and the apparent failure of
U.S. politicians to agree on trimming the country's deficit,
while Spain's election of an austerity-minded government failed
to ally fears about the euro zone's health.
Investors are also waiting to see if the European Central
Bank will step up to take a bigger role in tackling the debt
crisis, as efforts to beef up the European Financial Stability
Facility remain mired in delays.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell
0.8 percent to $7,464 a tonne by 0358 GMT, after falling 2.5
percent in the previous session.
The most-active February copper contract on the Shanghai
Futures Exchange slipped 1 percent to 55,000 yuan
($8,654.06) per tonne, after falling 0.6 percent on Friday.
Analysts said technicals were not helping prices.
"Copper will go through a period of consolidation within a
bear market, which means more downside risks ahead in the longer
term. The Moving Average Convergence-Divergence (MACD)
technical chart for LME copper shows a bearish trend developing,
which is not helped by the absence of positive news out of the
euro zone and United States," said CIFCO Futures analyst Zhou
Jie.
"Support for ShFE copper comes from arbitrageurs buying
Shanghai and selling London. But there are some fresh short
positions as well, due to negative news and falling LME copper
prices," he added.
London copper is likely to advance towards a bearish target
of $7,100, and Shanghai copper towards 52,600 yuan, said Reuters
technical analyst Wang Tao.
A high-profile congressional effort to trim stubborn U.S.
budget deficits appeared near collapse on Friday as Democrats
rejected a scaled-back proposal from Republicans that contained
few tax increases. The deadline for reaching a deal is
Wednesday.
Mario Draghi, chief of the European Central Bank which is
under intense pressure to play a greater role in tackling the
euro zone crisis, told euro zone governments on Friday to act
fast to get their rescue fund up and running, expressing
exasperation at their lack of progress in responding to the
escalating debt crisis.
The European Commission is seeking far tighter control of
national budgets to combat the debt crisis, a senior official
said on Friday, as the ECB's chief urged rapid action on the
fund for rescuing countries in trouble.
Spain's centre-right opposition stormed to a crushing
election victory on Sunday as voters see the new government as a
better steward for the economy than the discredited Socialists.
China's top copper smelter Jiangxi Copper Co.
and global miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc
have agreed a 12.4 percent rise in term treatment and
refining charges (TC/RC) for 2012 concentrate shipments, a
Jiangxi Copper source said on Saturday.
Base metals prices at 0358 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg
LME Cu 7464.00 -61.00 -0.81 -22.25
SHFE CU FUT FEB2 55000 -550 -0.99 -23.45
LME Alum 2117.25 7.25 +0.34 -14.28
SHFE AL FUT JAN2 16000 00 +0.00 -4.99
HG COPPER DEC1 337.30 -2.90 -0.85 -24.02
LME Zinc 1931.00 -34.00 -1.73 -21.31
SHFE ZN FUT FEB2 15100 60 +0.40 -22.46
LME Nickel 17700.00 45.00 +0.25 -28.48
LME Lead 2040.00 -19.00 -0.92 -20.00
SHFE PB FUT 15330 100 +0.66 -16.46
LME Tin 21275.00 0.00 +0.00 -20.91
LME/Shanghai arb 494
Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months
^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE
third month
($1=6.355 Chinese Yuan)