BLBG:Copper Advances As Chinese Slowdown May Signal Further Easing
Copper gained in New York on speculation policy makers in China, the biggest buyer, may roll out additional stimulus measures after data showed economic growth slowed to a three-year low in the last quarter.
Gross domestic product in the Asian country expanded 7.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. That compares with a median forecast of 7.7 percent growth in a Bloomberg survey and the 8.1 percent pace in the first quarter. The People’s Bank of China on July 5 announced the second interest-rate cut in a month.
“There is a bit of short-covering taking place,” Guillaume Osouf, a broker at Triland Metals Ltd. in London, said by phone, referring to purchases of copper to close out bets on lower prices.
Copper for September delivery gained 1.8 percent to $3.477 a pound by 7:27 a.m. on the Comex in New York. The metal gained 2 percent this week. Copper for three-month delivery climbed 1.5 percent to $7,668 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange.
China will release metals-output data for June on July 16, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. The data had been scheduled for release today.
There is a “skepticism over the numbers, with further monetary easing expected,” Jason Dobson, a metals broker at ICAP Plc in Hong Kong, said in a report today.
Copper stockpiles tracked by the LME, down 32 percent this year, rose 0.1 percent to 251,675 tons on deliveries in Busan, South Korea, daily exchange figures showed. Orders to draw the metal from warehouses fell 2 percent to 52,575 tons.
Copper traders are the most bearish in six weeks as 13 analysts among 28 surveyed by Bloomberg said they expect prices to drop next week, while nine were bullish and six were neutral.
“The market is still pretty bearish since last week,” Triland’s Osouf said.
Nickel, zinc, aluminum, lead and tin also rose in London.
To contact the reporter on this story: Agnieszka Troszkiewicz in London at atroszkiewic@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
