LME copper eases on worries rally may be overcooke
March 30, 2009
Singapore - Shanghai copper opened steady on Monday while London dipped 1 percent following Friday's near 5-month peak as investors worried that the 15 percent surge this month might be overdone.
Fundamentals
* Shanghai copper for June delivery rose 50 yuan or 0.2 percent to 33,270 yuan a tonne at 0102 GMT, while three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange lost $40 to $4,010, after touching $4,168 on Friday, its highest since Nov. 10.
* LME copper prices, up 31 percent this year, is on track for its biggest quarterly rise since June 2006. Shanghai's 40 percent quarterly surge is the biggest on record.
* Shanghai copper is trading at a premium of 1,570 yuan above London prices including China's 17 percent VAT, while aluminium is at a premium of 1,530 yuan after hitting a record above 2,200 yuan last week. [ID:nSP24756]
* China could see aluminium imports of 200,000 tonnes or more in March, almost double imports for the whole of 2008 as merchants try to cash in on relatively firm domestic prices.
* Shanghai aluminium <>SAFc3> fell 25 yuan to 12,795 yuan, while LME metal dipped $10 at $1,410.
* On the stocks front, LME aluminium inventories rose almost 15,000 tonnes to a record 3.47 million tonnes, but copper fell 3,150 to 500,750 tonnes on Friday.
* Shanghai copper stocks fell more than 6,200 tonnes to 25,181 tonnes last week, while aluminium in the eastern Chinese city dropped 27,920 tonnes to 141,965 tonnes -- a 16 percent reduction and their lowest in more than a year.
Market News
* Oil fell 1.6 percent to $51.56 a barrel, extending the previous session's losses that came on weak economic data and evidence producer group OPEC was still producing above its target rate. [O/R]
* The dollar edged lower on Monday after it posted its largest one-day gain against the euro in more than two months on Friday, boosted by a growing view that the European Central Bank may be the next to purchase its own bonds to stimulate growth. [USD/]
* Wall Street capped a strong week on a down note on Friday as investors booked profits in the wake of the recent upward surge and bank shares dropped after bank executives indicated March had been a tougher month for the industry than the previous two. [.N]
Data Events
* The following data and events are expected on Monday:
- Bank of England consumer credit (0830 GMT)
- Eurozone business climate (0900 GMT)
- Eurozone consumer sentiment (0900 GMT)
- Eurozone economic sentiment (0900 GMT)
- Eurozone industrial sentiment (0900 GMT) RELATED NEWS > Minmetals makes revised offer for OZ Minerals-repo[nSYD420840] > Dubal keeps aluminium output steady, grows capacity[nLT612595] > BHP investors back quest for acquisitions-report [nLT696166] > CRU World Copper Conference and CESCO Week [nN25412871] > METALS-Copper slips from near 5-mth high on demand [nLR348434] > INTERVIEW-RUSAL sees big aluminium upside in 2011 [nLR966553] > Chinalco raises $21 bln loan for Rio deal [nLR976550] > China customs checks slow flood of aluminium import[nSP397104] > Soaring Shanghai metals create monster arbitrage [nSP24756] > METALS INSIDER: Copper's Uncertainty Principle: A q[nLR347635] PRICES Base metals prices at 0203 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI LME copper $4,010.00 -$40.00 -0.99% -1.84% $3,589 xx LME alum $1,410.00 -$10.00 -0.70% -2.22% $1,360 xx LME zinc $1,320.00 -$29.00 -2.15% -2.08% $1,190 xx ShFE copper 33,270 50 +0.15% -1.74% 29,581 xx ShFE alum 12,795 -25 -0.20% -1.80% 12,026 xx ShFE zinc 11,595 20 +0.17% -0.56% 10,688 xx Currencies Euro/dlr $1.326 $0.003 +0.23% -0.29% (Reporting by Nick Trevethan; Editing by Ben Tan)
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