* U.S. jobs rose 165,000 in April, previous months revised
up
* London copper gained 6.2 pct on Friday, LME shut on Monday
* Coming Up: Euro zone services PMI at 0758 GMT
By Manolo Serapio Jr
SINGAPORE, May 6 (Reuters) – Shanghai copper futures jumped
by their 5 percent daily limit on Monday, tracking sharp gains
in London in the previous session after a strong U.S.
employment report for April renewed confidence in the global
economy.
London copper surged more than 6 percent on Friday in its
biggest daily rise since October 2011 after data showed U.S.
nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in April. Data also showed
hiring was stronger the past two months than initially reported
and the jobless rate fell to a more than four-year low of 7.5
percent.
The London Metal Exchange is shut on Monday for a public
holiday.
The benchmark August copper contract on the Shanghai Futures
Exchange opened at the session’s high and the upside
limit of 53,130 yuan a tonne, before easing to 52,660 yuan
($8,600) by 0242 GMT, still up 4.1 percent.
The most-traded September copper contract also hit
its 5 percent upside limit of 53,000 yuan on opening.
The upward revision to the U.S. job hirings in February and
March was the key feature of Friday’s employment report,
suggesting that job growth has recently averaged about 200,000 a
month, said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
“From the market’s point of view, this is a Goldilocks
scenario – good enough to provide reasonable growth in corporate
revenues but not strong enough to trigger more than a mild
tapering in the Fed’s asset purchase program,” said Spooner.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
climbed 6.2 percent to close at $7,270 a tonne on Friday. That’s
still nearly $400 cheaper compared to its peak in April shortly
before a broad-based commodities sell-off.
The upturn may be sustained when the LME reopens on Tuesday.
“We’re seeing signals of potential improvement in demand
from China by way of stockpile levels in Shanghai coming off
over the past two to three weeks,” said Natalie Rampono,
commodity strategist at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.
ANZ sees copper prices averaging at $7,390 in the second
quarter and at $7,630 for all of 2013.
Copper stockpiles at warehouses monitored by the Shanghai
bourse stood at 213,782 tonnes last week, the lowest level since
late February .
The next key data to watch from China will be its trade
numbers, said Rampono, with copper imports by the world’s top
consumer likely to have risen in April following the steep fall
in international prices.
China’s refined copper imports fell 36.7 percent from a year
ago to 218,823 tonnes in March.
Concern that China’s slower economic growth may curb its
demand for raw materials including copper had helped fuel the
commodities sell-off in April.
Data on Monday showed growth in China’s services sector
slowed sharply in April to its lowest point since August 2011,
fresh evidence that economic revival will remain modest and may
be facing wider risks.
Base metals prices at 0242 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg
LME Cu — — — —
SHFE CU FUT AUG3 52660 2060 +4.07 -8.70
HG COPPER JUL3 329.75 -1.70 -0.51 -9.72
LME Alum — — — —
SHFE AL FUT AUG3 14630 115 +0.79 -4.66
LME Zinc — — — —
SHFE ZN FUT AUG3 14665 -880 -5.66 -5.66
LME Nickel — — — —
LME Lead — — — —
SHFE PB FUT 14030.00 105.00 +0.75 -8.00
LME Tin — — — —
($1 = 6.1556 Chinese yuan)
(Editing by Tom Hogue)
