By Glenys Sim July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Copper climbed for a third day in Asia on speculation a recovery in the global economy will spur demand for the metal used in construction and automobiles. The index of leading indicators in the U.S., the world’s second-largest copper consumer, increased in June for a third consecutive month, extending an advance in global equities. The regional benchmark MSCI Asia Pacific Index headed for a sixth day of gains. “The fundamental picture may be less bleak than people expect,” Liu Biyuan, analyst at GF Futures Co., said from Guangzhou today. “Still, the market has gone up too much, too fast and needs to consolidate recent gains.” Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange added as much as 1.3 percent to $5,420.50 a metric ton and traded at $5,385 at 10:36 a.m. in Singapore, extending yesterday’s 0.8 percent advance. Copper for September delivery in New York fell 0.4 percent to $2.4585 a pound at the same time. October-delivery copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped as much as 1.5 percent to 43,020 yuan ($6,297) a ton, before trading at 43,340 yuan. “While spot copper in China is slowly moving from trading at a premium to a discount to futures prices, premiums are starting to improve at the same time,” said Liu. “This is lending support to the market.” Immediate-delivery copper in Changjiang, Shanghai’s biggest cash market, was 185 yuan less than the most-active futures price yesterday, suggesting lower demand in the short term. Premiums paid by Chinese importers, typically a good indicator of demand, are now about $85 to $90 a ton over the LME cash price, compared with around $70 to $75 last month, according to traders and analysts. This is down from the peak of around $280 in April. Among other LME-traded metals, aluminum was little changed at $1,713 a ton, lead gained 0.3 percent to $1,710 a ton and zinc fell 1.9 percent to $1,635 a ton. Nickel dropped 0.8 percent to $16,100 a ton and tin lost 1.4 percent to $13,805 a ton as of 10:33 a.m. in Singapore. To contact the reporter on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net

Source