SINGAPORE, March 19 (Reuters) – London copper steadied on
Tuesday above four-month lows hit in the previous session but
investors stayed on the sidelies, wary about a controversial
bailout plan for Cyprus, while consumers watched for more
opportune levels to buy.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
rose 0.20 percent to $7,591 a tonne by 0109 GMT, paring some
losses from the previous session when it fell more than two
percent to $7,545.75 a tonne, its lowest since Nov. 9.
* The most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai
Futures Exchange was little changed at 55,250 yuan
($8,900) a tonne, recovering from seven-month lows.
* LME aluminium, lead and zinc also remained mired close to
four-month lows.
* The government of Cyprus is hoping to push a divisive tax
on bank deposits through parliament on Tuesday in a bid to stave
off a default that could reignite the euro zone crisis.
* Euro zone ministers urged Cyprus to let smaller savers
escape a levy on bank deposits, before a parliamentary vote on
Tuesday that will either secure the island’s financial rescue or
threaten default.
* U.S. futures regulators, concerned about the frequency
with which high-speed traders engage in banned self-dealing, are
examining the practice with an eye toward crafting new rules to
prevent it, a top regulator said on Monday.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares rebounded on Tuesday from the previous
session’s steep falls, but investors remained wary over a
bailout plan for Cyprus which was set for a parliamentary vote
later in the day.
* The euro licked wounds near three-month lows versus the
dollar on Tuesday after a plan to tax bank accounts in Cyprus to
help pay for the country’s bailout stoked worries it could
threaten the stability of financial institutions in the euro
zone.
DATA/EVENTS
0530 India Repo rate
0900 Italy Industrial output yy WDA Jan 2013
1000 Germany ZEW economic sentiment Mar 2013
1145 U.S. ICSC chain stores yy Weekly
1230 U.S. Build permits: change mm Dec
1230 U.S. House starts mm: change Dec
1230 U.S. Housing starts number mm Feb
2030 U.S. API weekly crude stocks Weekly
2030 U.S. API weekly dist. stocks Weekly
2030 U.S. API weekly gasoline stk Weekly
PRICES
Base metals prices at 0109 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg
LME Cu 7591.00 15.00 +0.20 -4.26
SHFE CU FUT JUL3 55250 -30 -0.05 -4.21
HG COPPER MAY3 343.50 0.70 +0.20 -5.95
LME Alum 1938.00 2.00 +0.10 -6.42
SHFE AL FUT JUN3 14705 10 +0.07 -4.17
LME Zinc 1928.00 9.00 +0.47 -6.57
SHFE ZN FUT JUN3 14900 -645 -4.15 -4.15
LME Nickel 16655.00 50.00 +0.30 -2.91
LME Lead 2180.00 -5.00 -0.23 -6.84
SHFE PB FUT 14410.00 -80.00 -0.55 -5.51
LME Tin 23100.00 0.00 +0.00 -1.28
LME/Shanghai arb^ -146
Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months
^ LME 3-month copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month
($1 = 6.2158 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Richard Pullin)
