RTRS:METALS-Copper steady ahead of U.S. non-farm payrolls data
* Euro firm near two-week high versus the dollar
* Lengthening queues at warehouses boost aluminium premiums
* Coming up: U.S. non-farm payrolls data
By Silvia Antonioli
LONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Copper was little changed on
Friday ahead of jobs data from the United States, supported by a
firm euro against the dollar but pressured by concerns over
poor demand from top consumer China.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)
was little changed at $8,297 a tonne by 1043 GMT from a close of
$8,305 on Friday, but was on track for a 1 percent increase this
week.
Trading volumes were low this week as a holiday in China
kept a large number of players away from the market.
The metal, widely used in power and construction, has gained
almost 10 percent in the past month, helped by actions by
central banks in the U.S., Europe and Japan to loosen their
monetary policy in an attempt to boost growth.
Sluggish metals demand from top buyer China, which makes up
for 40 percent of the global copper demand, kept a lid on the
rally, however.
Investors are now turning to September non-farm payrolls
data later on Friday which might offer more clues on whether the
central banks action is starting to translate into an economic
improvement.
"If you get a good job number the base metals could get a
bit of a boost but what goes on in China is more significant,"
said Natixis analyst Nic Brown.
"After the political handover we will see more stimulus
policies in China and we should see some stronger growth so we
expect a pick-up in copper prices next year but it will be more
muted than typical economic recoveries because there are large
inventories in China."
Helping metals, the euro hovered near a two-week high versus
the dollar after the European Central Bank (ECB) reiterated it
was ready to buy bonds to tackle the debt crisis.
A softer U.S. currency against the euro makes dollar-priced
commodities such as metals cheaper for holders of the single
currency.
ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that everything
was in place for the bank to buy the bonds of troubled euro zone
countries such as Spain and that conditions linked to it need
not be punitive.
Taking some shine off global growth prospects though, a
German newspaper report said the International Monetary Fund
would lower its forecasts for global economic growth to 3.3
percent this year and 3.6 percent in 2013 from earlier forecasts
of 3.4 percent and 3.9 percent.
CHINESE DIET
China's appetite for metals may be muted when it returns on
Monday given prices are $100 higher this week, a trader in
Singapore said, with a U.S. holiday on Monday also likely to
keep trading quiet.
Direction will hinge on whether the September jobs report
meets expectations, he added.
Data from the U.S. on Thursday showed unemployment rose only
slightly last week after a big drop the week before, a hopeful
sign the job market is still on the mend.
In other metals, aluminium, used in packaging and
carmaking, was at $2,109.50 from $2,112 at the close on
Thursday.
Aluminium premiums - money paid over the benchmark LME cash
price to secure immediate delivery of physical metal - have been
on a steady uptrend since the beginning of the year.
"Inventory financing and cancelled warrants are driving
aluminium premiums higher by lengthening the queue to obtain
aluminium from LME warehouses," Commonwealth Bank said in a
research note.
"We expect inventory financing to keep aluminium premiums
rising and suspect that smelters that appear uneconomical on an
LME aluminium cash level are remaining afloat by claiming some
part of the premium in their pricing."
Tin was at $22,600 from $22,500 while zinc,
used to galvanize steel was at $2,064 from $2,065 at Thursday's
close.
Battery material lead was at $2,269.50 from $2,290.5
and nickel was at $18,685 from $18,675.
Metal Prices at 1059 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2009 Ytd Pct
move
#VALUE!
LME Alum 2108.00 -104.00 -4.70 2230.00 -5.47
LME Cu 8299.00 -6.00 -0.07 7375.00 12.53
LME Lead 2289.50 -1.00 -0.04 2432.00 -5.86
LME Nickel 18670.00 -5.00 -0.03 18525.00 0.78
LME Tin 22550.00 50.00 +0.22 16950.00 33.04
LME Zinc 2064.00 -1.00 -0.05 2560.00 -19.38
SHFE Alu 15760.00 65.00 +0.41 17160.00 -8.16
SHFE Cu* 59770.00 670.00 +1.13 59900.00 -0.22
SHFE Zin 15680.00 100.00 +0.64 21195.00 -26.02
** 1st contract month for COMEX copper
* 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN
SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07
