BLBG:Copper Swings Between Gains And Losses On China Easing
Copper swung between gains and losses in New York as investors weighed the prospects of more easing in China, the biggest metals user.
There’s “growing room for monetary policy operation,” Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said, Chinese state television reported yesterday. A report today may show new-home construction in the U.S. held in July near a four-year high. The Copper Development Association says construction generates about 40 percent of demand for the metal.
“In the short term I think things will remain in limbo,” William Adams, an analyst at BaseMetals.com, said by e-mail. “The risk lies to the downside. If the market starts to fret about China’s slowdown lasting longer, then that could trigger another down leg, especially if they delay doing more stimulus.”
Copper for December delivery fell 10 cents to $3.36 a pound by 7:23 a.m. on the Comex in New York. The futures rose as much as 0.5 percent and fell as much as 0.2 percent. Copper for three-month delivery gained 0.2 percent in London.
“It is hard to see the metals staging a lasting recovery anytime soon,” RBC Capital Markets LLC said in a report today. “Europe remains in the penalty box for excessive social spending and Asia is clearly not the force it once was.”
Weaker inflation gives more room to adjust monetary policy, Wen said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Inflation reached a 30-month low in July, export growth collapsed and new yuan loans trailed estimates.
Orders to remove copper from warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange rose for the first session in nine to 34,025 tons, daily exchange figures showed. Copper stockpiles declined 0.5 percent to 235,250 tons, the lowest since June 11.
Aluminum, lead and nickel rose in London. Zinc and tin fell.
To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in London at mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
