WSJ:BASE METALS: Shanghai Copper Steady Tracking LME, Dollar; Europe In Focus
SHANGHAI (Dow Jones)--Copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange settled steady Tuesday after narrowing early losses, tracking its counterpart on the London Metal Exchange in Asian hours.
Benchmark February copper settled almost flat at CNY55,270 a metric ton.
The red metal fell in early trade as investors booked profits after Monday's rise.
"It's a follow-up from Europe Monday when metals pared gains because economic uncertainty remains," despite hopes that European officials will take decisive action to tackle the region's debt crisis, a Shanghai-based trader at an international firm said.
Copper's gains in late trade came as the dollar lost some ground to the euro. A stronger euro makes dollar-denominated metals on LME cheaper for other currency holders, pushing SHFE metals higher.
"Metals are correlating closely with the dollar movement, so when there's nothing new coming from the macro front, where the greenback heads would determine how metals would perform," another Shanghai-based trader said.
Traders also said investors are watching for cues from a European financial ministers' meeting due later in the global day, which may shed light on how policy makers are going to deal with debt issues.
Chinese metal investors may also keep an eye on the upcoming Central Economic Work Conference as any changes in economic policies may have a direct impact on demand for industrial metals.
The conference, which usually takes place in early December, brings together top Chinese politicians to discuss the next year's economic policies.
Copper traded at the Changjiang Nonferrous Metals Trading Market, a major spot metals market in Shanghai, was quoted at CNY56,550-CNY56,700/ton compared with CNY56,850-CNY57,000/ton Monday.
Three-month LME copper ended Monday afternoon's kerb $265 higher at $7,495/ton; the contract was trading 0.4% lower at $7,466/ton around 0700 GMT, when the SHFE closed.
Aluminum inched up, zinc gained 0.5% and lead settled steady.
Tuesday's settlement prices in yuan a ton and LME late kerb prices from Monday in dollars a ton:
Metal SHFE LME
Copper Feb 55,270 Down 10 3Mo 7,495.0 Up 265.0
Aluminum Feb 15,895 Up 45 3Mo 2,025.0 Up 34.0
Zinc Feb 15,230 Up 80 3Mo 1,956.5 Up 47.5
Lead Jan 15,430 Up 5 3Mo 2,025.0 Up 22.0
-Yue Li contributed to this article; Dow Jones Newswires; (8621) 6120 1200; yue.li@dowjones.com
