BLBG:Copper Gains as Sales of New U.S. Homes Probably Climbed
Copper rose for a second day in New York before a report that may show new home sales in the U.S., the second-biggest consumer of the metal, rose to the highest level in more than two years.
Purchases of new houses probably climbed to a 380,000 annual rate in November, the most since April 2010, according to the median estimated in a survey of economists by Bloomberg. The report is due at 3 p.m. London time. Copper also advanced on expectations that a recovering Chinese economy will boost demand from the largest user as profits at industrial companies in the Asian nation rose.
“Expectations are home sales will be higher,” James Roberts, a broker at Sucden Financial Ltd. in London, said by e- mail. Metals are “underpinned by Chinese industrial profits data which, in the context of the recent urbanization comments from the new politburo, is supportive of the Chinese demand story.”
Copper for delivery in March rose 0.2 percent to $3.6055 a pound by 4:50 a.m. on the Comex in New York. The metal is up 4.9 percent this year. Copper for delivery in three months gained 1.5 percent to $7,926 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. The market was closed the last two days for public holidays.
“Trading is really thin, so orders appear to be moving the market strongly,” Mark Lewon, president of Salt Lake City-based scrap recycler Utah Metal Works Inc., said by e-mail yesterday. Trading in Comex copper was about 32 percent lower than the 30- day average for the time of day.
Chinese industrial companies’ profits rose almost 23 percent in November from a year earlier to 638.5 billion yuan ($102 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website today. The nation’s urbanization is expected to spur 40 trillion yuan of investment by 2020, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported on Dec. 25, citing a draft plan by the National Development and Reform Commission.
Stockpiles Gain
Copper stockpiles monitored by the LME climbed for a 14th day, rising 0.2 percent to 318,000 tons. They remain at the highest level since Feb. 7. Orders to withdraw metal from LME warehouses dropped 1 percent to 51,075 tons, bourse data showed today. Aluminum canceled warrants, as the orders are known, climbed above 2 million tons for the first time ever.
Aluminum, zinc, lead, nickel and tin increased 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
