BLBG:Copper and Zinc Rise as China Inflation Eases Tightening Concern
Copper and zinc rose for a second day in London, pacing gains by industrial metals after weaker- than-estimated Chinese inflation eased concerns about tightening of monetary policy in the country.
Consumer prices increased 2.1 percent in March from a year earlier, China’s statistics bureau said today, below the 2.5 percent median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The nation is the world’s biggest user of industrial metals. Prices also climbed after aluminum producer Alcoa Inc.’s first- quarter earnings exceeded analysts’ estimates.
“We should see technical bounces,” Mark Newson-Smith, head of sales at Xconnect Trading Ltd. in London, said by e- mail. “The Chinese have returned to the market as buyers and CTA selling is close to exhaustion on most metals,” he said, referring to commodity trading advisers.
Copper for delivery in three months climbed 1 percent to $7,527 a metric ton by 10:07 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange and zinc rose as much as 1.3 percent. Copper for delivery in May added 0.7 percent to $3.395 a pound on the Comex in New York.
Copper miners in Chile, the world’s largest producer, will hold a 24-hour nationwide strike today to push for greater job security. Exports were curbed by a three-week strike by port workers in the country. Industry officials are gathering this week in Santiago for CRU’s 12th World Copper Conference during CESCO Week.
Stockpiles of copper monitored by the LME rose 1.4 percent to 587,550 tons, the highest since Sept. 24, 2003, on deliveries in New Orleans and Johor, Malaysia. Orders to take the metal from warehouses climbed to a record for a third day, advancing 3 percent to 151,800 tons. About 26 percent of LME inventories now await delivery.
Aluminum for delivery in three months on the LME gained 0.5 percent to $1,899 a ton. Net income excluding a tax benefit and other one-time items was 11 cents a share, Alcoa said yesterday in a statement, beating the 8-cent average of 18 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Demand for the lightweight metal in aircraft and cars improved, the company said.
Lead and nickel rose in London. Tin fell.
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
