LME copper ends lower; Tin up

London Metal Exchange copper retreated from earlier session highs, pulling the rest of the base metals complex down with it, but the lower prices should be seen as a good buying opportunity, brokers said Monday.

After nearing the psychological $8,000 a metric ton earlier Monday, three-month copper retreated on fund selling and profit-taking, according to base metals brokers.

Some traders were disappointed by the markets' inability to hold onto higher prices and decided to sell, a London broker said.

Once copper prices fell below $7,800/ton, sell-stops were triggered. Considering the strong price rally seen over the past few weeks, it isn't surprising to see prices consolidate, said Michael Widmer of Calyon in London.

However, China still has an interest in buying copper and bargain hunters should help the market recover from Monday's bottom, the London broker said.

Earlier in the day, LME copper made gains until the close of the second ring session Monday morning as a result of cash buying ahead of the third Wednesday prompt date, market participants said.

In addition, market speculation that China's State Reserve Bureau has authorized smelters to make purchases on its behalf attracted some buyers earlier Monday. There has been no clarification from the SRB, but copper market participants have taken the reports as a bullish sign.

Meanwhile, a possible strike at PT Freeport Indonesia's massive Grasberg mine and flooding near Xstrata's Alumbrera mine in Argentina were providing underlying copper price support and will be closely monitored by market players.

The Grasberg mine is 90.64%-owned by U.S.-based Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, with the remainder held by the government. Its daily output is some 1,800 metric tons of copper and 9,000 troy ounces of gold a day.

On Friday, Xstrata PLC announced it would delay two copper shipments until May at its Alumbrera copper mine, due to flooding in the region. However, production wasn't affected, a company spokeswoman said.

The other LME base metals took their cue from copper. Nickel retreated some 3% from its session high to around $46,000/ton while zinc declined some 2% from its high to hover around $3,500/ton.

In other markets, a 0.7% decline in spot gold also added to bearish sentiment across the base metals complex, said market players.

Prices in dollar a metric ton.
3 Months Metal     Bid-Ask        Change from
                                 Friday PM kerb
Copper          7729.0-7730.0       Dn  29
Lead            2005.0-2008.0       Up  10
Zinc            3500.0-3510.0       Up  22
Aluminium       2822.0-2823.0       Up  10
Nickel         46200.0-46300.0      Dn 200
Tin            14525.0-14550.0      Up 175