Copper set to end down for 3rd week in four on demand doubts * LME nickel set for 3 pct weekly rise on looming Indonesia ban * Coming Up: 1230 U.S. Durable goods orders * CFTC trader data for week of Oct. 4 due on Friday London copper held steady on Friday but was set to close lower for a third week in four as fitful global factory growth and fears China will clamp down on credit tarnished the outlook for metals demand. Chinas central bank added fuel to fears on Thursday it was clamping down on inflation risks as it allowed cash to drain from the financial system for a second straight week, sparking a jump in short-term rates and sidelining appetite for risk. The longer China prolongs the recent tightening, the more its going to squeeze out liquidity and raise the risk of a more significant pull back in demand in general, said Thomas Lam, chief economist at DMG & Partners Securities in Singapore. The best growth years for China are probably behind us, said Lam, adding that there was little in the way of global growth prospects to give metals prices a lift. Factories in China boosted production this month, but U.S. manufacturing output fell for the first time in four years while the euro zone economy lost momentum, surveys on Thursday showed. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange edged up 0.2 percent to $7,186.50 a tonne by 0315 GMT from the previous session when it finished little changed. Copper prices fell to the lowest since Oct. 11 at $7,137 a tonne on Thursday. Prices were set to close the week down by around 1 percent and remain more than 9 percent off this year. The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was flat at 51,680 yuan ($8,500)a tonne. Other metals looked set to close flat or slightly higher, supported by consensus shifting for the United States to start curtailing its huge bond-buying program pushing out to next year, which kept the dollar near a two-year low against the euro. A weaker dollar makes metals cheaper for holders of other currencies. LME nickel was set to log gains of more than 3 percent for the week, as prospects Indonesia may turn off supply next year triggered a technical rally. In other news, Greenlands parliament voted on Thursday to end a decades-long prohibition on mining for radioactive materials like uranium, further opening up the country to investors from Australia to China eager to tap its vast mineral resources. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission will release its weekly commitments of traders reports over the next two weeks as it resumes functions after the partial U.S. government shutdown, starting with the report for Oct. 4 on Friday.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 04:59:35 +0000
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