Metals up 3% on firm equities

Print this page Posted on : 03-26-2008 by recycleinme.com

Industrial metals rose as much as 3 per cent on Tuesday after a four-day weekend, lifted by rises on stock markets as some confidence returned to the economy, analysts said.

Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange, often seen as a key gauge of real economic activity, was up 2.3 per cent from Thursday's closing price to a quoted $8,020/8,040 per tonne at 1049 GMT, tracking European equity bourses which were up around 3 per cent."There is a direct link between stock markets and metal prices,'' Commerzbank analyst Mr Eugen Weinberg said.

Investors said they hoped that an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve last week would mitigate the damage done to the economy by the global credit crunch.

Copper fell 10 per cent last week as part of a commodity-wide sell-off. It raced to a new record high in early March which took its gain for the year to more than 30 per cent, making it one of the strongest performers on financial markets. China imported an average 4,698 tonnes of copper a day in February, up 14 per cent from January and above the 2007 average of 4,082 tonnes, according to customs data released on Monday.LME aluminium rose 2.4 per cent to $2,910/2,915 per tonne and zinc was up 3.1 per cent at $2,340/2,360 per tonne. Lead was up $26 at 2740/2760 per tonne, tin was up $125 at $20,000/20,200 per tonne, and steel-making raw material nickel was up $750 at $29,250/29,450 per tonne.

Source : Business Line