Copper prices witness some well-deserved relief over the past few days, spurred my positive manufacturing data out of the U.S. On Tuesday morning, copper continued its ascent, trading as high $4.0395 a pound, but quickly gave-up those gains when news that U.S. April home construction unexpectedly fell hit the markets.
Copper rebounded Tuesday from a five-month low, supported by a weaker greenback and bargain hunting.
Monday marked coppers sixth straight daily loss, and its longest losing streak in since June, after Standard & Poor’s put a “negative” outlook on the AAA credit rating for the United States, the world’s largest economy and the second-largest consumer of the metal.
Rising inflation and interest rate hikes in China, a struggling Japanese economy, and sustained high oil prices have investors worried about future demand for copper.
The second quarter is China’s peak demand period- it is usually during this time that the world’s top copper consumer stocks up on supplies from the copper market. However, a premium of London vs. Shanghai copper prices has some analysts wondering if China will wait before coming to market.
Copper futures hit record territory in London Tuesday, buoyed by positive manufacturing data from around the world. Tuesday’s new high was the fifth time in the past seven trading sessions that copper hit a record.
China has been rapidly moving forward, to dominate the commodities rally and more than compensating for the rest of world’s shortcomings. Wayne Atwell, Managing Director at Casimir Capital L.P., comments on what he believes has made China a force to be reckoned with.
Copper commenced Tuesday in positive territory, extending Monday’s winning streak on the back of the longest run of inventory declines in over a year. Copper is ignoring overall market sentiment as lower than anticipated earnings reports from both Goldman Sachs and IBM wreaked havoc on the American and European stock markets.
KGHM, Europe’s top copper miner, believes 2009 will be much more difficult as the lower demand for copper will impact their revenues. They are anticipating a consumer driven market with strong supply. Pawel Puchalski, analyst with BZ WBK in Warsaw, commented on KGHM’s current standings. It’s not that the company will sell less copper, but [...]
US copper futures dropped in connection with the overall fall of the metals complex as the US dollar’s strength continued to push metals down. A weaker tone on Wall Street and further probes to the downside in crude oil prices were other factors seen dragging on industrial metal copper. Read the entire article here. [...]
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