LONDON - Copper fell more than 1 percent on Thursday as a spate of weak data kept demand concerns alive and tempered a recent pick-up in market sentiment.
Copper for three-months delivery on the London Metal Exchange was $4,885 a tonne in open outcry trade, from a close of $4,915 on Wednesday. It hit a session low of $4,855.
The metal used extensively in power and construction rose above $5,000 earlier this week as stronger data fanned speculation the global economy may be convalescing, but weaker U.S. data on Wednesday cooled the optimism.
Analysts maintain the economic outlook is improving as the rate of bad news slows but view the recent market gains as over zealous.
揚eople don抰 expect a dramatic, swift recovery, but they do expect a recovery,� Standard Bank analyst Leon Westgate said.
揚eople are now brave enough to look a bit further forward now that things appear to have bottomed. China抯 economy is growing and the economic data is not great but it抯 not getting worse,� Westgate added.
As well as weak U.S. jobs data, the service sector, which accounts for about 80 percent of U.S. economic activity, shrank for the eighth straight month in May. But the rate of contraction slowed.
Other data showed new orders received by U.S. factories rebounded in April but the previous month抯 figure was sharply revised downwards to show a steeper drop.
Aluminium stocks fall
Aluminium, used in transport and packaging, stood at $1,472 from $1,482.
Inventory data offered some respite for the metal used in transport. Stocks fell for the second session in a row, dropping 6,900 tonnes to break a relentless rise since April 20 that has brought levels to above 4.2 million tonnes.
But the outlook for aluminium is weak as potential production restarts in China threaten to flood the market with material and as the auto sector continues to languish.
揑抦 worried that on any pick-up in prices, a lot of facilities in China could get restarted, and that could temper any further (price) rise,� said Charles Kernot, a mining analyst at Evolution Securities.
Among other industrial metals, zinc was at $1,527 from 1,535, battery material lead stood at $1,580
1,581 from $1,615.
Tin was at $14,450
14,460 from $14,500. The metal remained in a high backwardation � a premium for nearby material over three-months contracts � above $200. Signalling a potential squeeze, data shows a dominant position controlling about 90 percent of cash warrants on LME stocks.
Tags: Copper Mining| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Feb | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | ||||