Copper slips as equities fall

Print this page Posted on : 08-26-2009 by recycleinme.com

Copper fell on Tuesday as investors fretted that industrial metal prices may have risen too high despite weak fundamentals, and volumes were light in a climate of economic uncertainty. By 0951 GMT, copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange fell to $6,290 a tonne from $6,418 at the close on Monday and compared with a session low at $6,270.

''There is a feeling that everything has been pumped up to such an extent - is it really realistic or is a lot of it defying gravity and will come down to a nasty bump at some stage,'' said Mr Robin Bhar, an analyst at Calyon on metals.

''Real demand is still very weak,'' he added. ''Prices have gone too far but if the investor and speculator is willing to carry on buying, then this bubble can persist for a few more days, weeks, months yet.'' Prices of the red metal used in power and construction have more than doubled this year, as a combination of Chinese stockpiling, fund buying and improving economic sentiment boosted prices.

Aluminium

Aluminium fell $32 to $1,895. LME stocks for the metal, used in transport and packaging, slipped by 3,575 tonnes to remain at near record levels above 4.6 million tonnes.

Steel-making ingredient nickel traded at $19,080 from $19,600 while battery material lead was at $1,991 from $2,025. Lead rose to $2,025 on Monday on the China news - its highest level since late September of last year.

Zinc fell to $1,824 a tonne from $1,856 and tin edged down to $13,900 from $14,375

Source : Business Line