Copper rules steady in LME trade

Print this page Posted on : 01-08-2008 by recycleinme.com

Copper held steady in early business on Monday as investors, unnerved by Friday’s poor job creation figures, held back from taking big positions.

Three-months copper futures at the London Metal Exchange, often seen as a key gauge of real economic activity, were $25 higher at $6,950/6,970 per tonne at 1051 GMT.

“We had some up and down economic data last week-the jobs data at the end of the week confused a lot of people,” analyst Mr. Daniel Hynes at Merrill Lynch said. “In a way, the market is quite unsure,” he said. Prices fell from a two-month high on Friday growing fears of a US recession, after data showed fewer than expected jobs were created in December.

Still, prices have rebounded a little from their steep decline in the last quarter pf 2007, and are 4 per cent up since the beginning of 2008.

“The start of the year has seen a positive mood. There’s a good bullish sentiment,” Mr. Hynes said. Many in the market believe that any slowdown in the US will be offset by ongoing strong demand in China and other industrializing economies.

Aluminium was down $1 at $2,465/2,470 per tonne, while zinc was up $10 at $2,510/2,530 per tonne.

Lead was down $1 at $2,600/2,625 per tonne, tin was unchanged at $16,150/16,250 per tonne, and nickel was up $850 at $28,950/29,150 per tonne.

Source : Business Line