SINGAPORE, May 8 (Reuters) – London copper futures edged
higher on Wednesday, while the Shanghai market was little
changed in cautious trade ahead of China’s April trade data,
which will give evidence about growth in the world’s second
largest economy.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
rose 0.4 percent to $7,296 a tonne by 0117 GMT. The metal
touched a three-week high of $7,374 on Tuesday, boosted by a
strong U.S. employment report for April.
* The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai
Futures Exchange gained 0.2 percent to 52,770 yuan a
tonne.
* China, which accounts for 40 percent of global copper
consumption, will report trade data this session, followed by
inflation on Thursday and money supply and loan growth expected
from Friday.
* Arrivals of copper in April are expected to fall slightly
from March’s 218,823 tonnes, after port strikes in Chile delayed
term shipments. Shipments due to arrive China in April are now
expected to arrive in May and early June.
* Recent data has suggested a patchy global economic
recovery, although Friday’s U.S. jobs report proved much
stronger than expected, while Germany, Europe’s largest economy,
reported a surprise 2.2 percent rise in industrial orders in
March.
* Copper has lost almost 13 percent since hitting $8,346 a
tonne in early February. Last month, copper hit its lowest in a
year-and-a-half following weak growth data from China.
* Some investors remain heartened by the decline in copper
stocks in both Shanghai and on the LME. Shanghai stocks have
declined to 213,782 tonnes, their lowest since late February,
while LME stocks are at 604,600, their lowest since early April,
having hit their highest in nearly a decade in late April.
* Russia’s Norilsk Nickel GMKN.MM, the world’s largest
nickel and palladium miner, said on Tuesday its nickel and
platinum group metals output fell in the first quarter 2013,
while copper production rose.
* Nickel output was 71,573 tonnes in the first quarter, down
6 percent, year-on-year, due to a shortfall in delivery of raw
materials to its operations on the Kola peninsula in Russia and
its Harjavalta refinery in Finland, it said in a statement.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
, or
MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares rose on Wednesday on another record high for
U.S. stocks and unexpectedly strong German industrial orders, as
investors await the first batch of April data from China for the
latest take on the region’s powerhouse economy.
* Major currencies got off to a sleepy start in Asia on
Wednesday following an uninspired session overnight, but the New
Zealand dollar stood out after the central bank complained it
was overvalued, prompting markets to briefly sell the kiwi.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0200 China Exports yy Apr
0200 China Imports yy Apr
0200 China Trade balance Apr
1000 Germany Industrial output mm Mar
1430 U.S. EIA weekly crude stocks Weekly
1430 U.S. EIA weekly dist. stocks Weekly
1430 U.S. EIA weekly gasoline stk Weekly
Base metals prices at 0117 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg
LME Cu 7296.00 31.00 +0.43 -7.98
SHFE CU FUT SEP3 52770 90 +0.17 -8.51
HG COPPER JUL3 331.25 1.00 +0.30 -9.31
LME Alum 1886.00 5.00 +0.27 -8.93
SHFE AL FUT AUG3 14630 10 +0.07 -4.66
LME Zinc 1882.00 9.50 +0.51 -8.80
SHFE ZN FUT AUG3 14640 -905 -5.82 -5.82
LME Nickel 15153.00 -47.00 -0.31 -11.67
LME Lead 2036.75 10.75 +0.53 -12.96
SHFE PB FUT 0.00 -14100.00 -100.00 -100.00
LME Tin 20200.00 0.00 +0.00 -13.68
LME/Shanghai arb^ -453
Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months
^ LME 3-month copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month
(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Richard Pullin)
