Copper hits 3- week high

Print this page Posted on : 02-18-2010 by recycleinme.com

London, Feb. 17 Copper rose to a three- week high on Wednesday as upbeat economic data in the US and Asia, and rising amounts of material tagged to leave warehouses, bolstered the demand outlook. Copper for three- month’s delivery on the London Metal Exchange traded at $ 7,158 a tonne at 1059 GMT from a close of $ 7,144 on Tuesday. The metal used in power and construction extended a rally from the day before and hit an intraday high of $ 7,240, its highest since Jan. 27. Investors are keeping an eye on rising cancelled warrants —material tagged for delivery —at LME warehouses. Cancelled warrants of copper were at 16,900 tonnes, up 500 tonnes from the day before and have more than doubled from a level of 7,425 tonnes at the end of January. But these cancelled warrants account for just 3 per cent of total stocks, which are at 549,900 tonnes, their highest since October 2003. ALUMINIUM STOCKS Aluminium traded at $ 2,115 a tonne from $ 2,131. Stocks of aluminium jumped 22,750 tonnes to above 4.6 million tonnes, hovering just below record highs. Cancelled aluminium warrants are at 293,175 tonnes, up some 20 per cent so far this month from 242,275 at the end of January but still a mere fraction of total inventories. Zinc was at $ 2,312 from $ 2,337. Stocks of zinc jumped 39,900 tonnes, as a previously deferred shipment arrived. Lead was at $ 2,310 from $ 2,298. Tin traded at $ 16,699 from $ 16,700 and nickel was at $ 20,190 from $ 20,325 having earlier hit $ 20,589, its second six- month high in two sessions.

Source : Business Line