BLBG:Copper Gains Most in Two Weeks on Italy Loan Report, Record Thanksgiving
Copper advanced after a newspaper reported that the International Monetary Fund is preparing a loan for Italy to help the country implement reforms and as U.S. holiday sales rose to a record.
The contract for three-month delivery climbed as much as 3.5 percent to $7,480 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, the most since Nov. 14, and traded at $7,435 at 3:02 p.m. Shanghai time. Copper for February-delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed 3.3 percent higher at 55,370 yuan ($8,677) a ton.
The IMF is preparing a 600 billion euro ($794 billion) loan for Italy in case the debt crisis worsens, La Stampa said. The money would give Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti 12 to 18 months to implement his reforms without having to refinance the country’s existing debt, the Italian daily reported without saying where it got the information.
“News about IMF’s aid to Italy weighed on the dollar, giving a boost to industrial metals today,” said Xiong Dabiao, an analyst at Minmetals Futures Co. in Shanghai. “But this looks like only a temporary relief to the market as there are lots of uncertainties about the plan.” The IMF said today in an e-mailed statement it isn’t discussing with Italy on a program for financing.
The Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against its six major counterparts including the euro, retreated by as much as 0.7 percent to 79.102 today.
U.S. retail sales during Thanksgiving weekend climbed 16 percent to a record of $52.4 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.
Copper for March delivery gained 2.6 percent to $3.37 per pound on the Comex in New York. Managed-money funds held net- short positions, or wagers on lower prices, of 3,491 futures and options as of Nov. 15, compared with 1,767 a week earlier, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
On the LME, aluminum rose 1.4 percent to $2,019 a ton, zinc gained 1.1 percent to $1,931 a ton and increased 1.1 percent to $2,026 a ton. Nickel advanced 2 percent to $17,285 a ton, while tin declined 1.3 percent to $20,425 a ton.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Helen Sun in Shanghai at hsun30@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net
