Copper Pares Biggest Monthly Gain Since December as Metals Drop

 

 

Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange dropped as much as 3.7 percent to $7,873.25 a metric ton, and traded at $7,923.75 a ton by 12:47 p.m. Shanghai time. The contract has gained 13 percent in October, the first increase in three months. The metal for January-delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 2.5 percent to 57,780 yuan ($9,096) a ton.

 

 

“After a strong rally last week, copper is due for a correction,” said Lian Zheng, an analyst at Xinhu Futures Co. “U.S. and China data, as well as the progress in Europe, will provide cues regarding how deep the correction will be.”

 

 

The metal may move back in range toward $7,660 a ton, where it’s likely to form an interim base, said Barclays Capital in a technical analysis report today.

 

 

China will “firmly” maintain its property curbs and local authorities should continue to strictly implement the central government’s real-estate policies in the coming months to let people see the results of the curbs, according to the, according to a statement on Oct. 29 following a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Wen.

 

 

The Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against those of six trading partners, jumped as much as 1.5 percent today, as the yen dropped by the most in three years against the dollar after Japan stepped into foreign-exchange markets to weaken the currency.

 

 

Net-Short Positions

 

 

Copper for December-delivery on the Comex in New York declined 3.1 percent to $3.59 a pound. Managed-money funds held net-short positions, or wagers on lower copper prices, of 5,023 futures and options as of Oct. 25, compared with 8,294 a week earlier, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Oct. 28.

 

 

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off the west coast of Peru on Oct. 28. Southern Copper Corp., Peru’s largest producer of the metal, didn’t sustain any damage at its mines or smelter in the southern region, a company spokesman said.

 

 

Striking workers at Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia have called for suspending talks with the management for a week, Virgo Solossa, head of organization affairs at PT Freeport Indonesia’s labor union, said by phone on Oct. 30.

 

 

Copper is “now less sensitive to positive news, such as strikes and earthquakes,” said Lian.

 

 

Aluminum in London dropped 0.9 percent to $2,222 a ton, zinc fell 2.6 percent to $1,934 per ton, and lead fell 4.1 percent to $2,005 a ton. Nickel declined 1.5 percent to $19,400 a ton, and tin lost 0.5 percent to $22,000 per ton.

 

 

Fifteen tin producers in Indonesia, the world’s largest shipper, agreed to extend a self-imposed ban on exports until the end of the year to help boost prices, Johan Murod, director at PT Bangka Belitung Timah Sejahtera, a group of six smelters, said on Oct. 28.