Metals fall; market awaits Chinese data

Print this page Posted on : 10-25-2007 by recycleinme.com

Industrial metals drifted lower at the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday, as wary investors awaited key Chinese data due on Thursday, analysts and traders said.

Copper for delivery in three months was quoted at $7,690/7,710 per tonne by 1015 GMT, down $105 or 1.3 per cent from Tuesday, and aluminium was down $17 at $2,513/2,518 per tonne.

“The markets are on hold. There is no economic data due today that will have a big impact, so investors are waiting until the much more relevant Chinese data is released tomorrow,” BMP Paribas analyst Mr. David Thurtell said.

China, the world’s biggest consumer of copper and other industrial metals, is due to report GDP and other economic data for September on Thursday at 0200 GMT.

LEAD STOCKS

Stocks of lead in LME –registered warehouses have risen sharply this month-another 925 tonnes entered storage on Wednesday, taking the total to 38,300.

“We believe that the current rise of inventories suggests that the scarcity is falling far short of what is currently discounted in the prices and that the lead price will soon fall below USD 3,000 again,” analysts at Commerz-bank said. Lead was down $75 at $3,515/3,535 per tonne. Zinc was down $51 at $2,860/2,880 per tonne, nickel was down $500 at $31,250/31,450 and tin was down $350 at $15,950/16,150.

Source : Business Line