Copper futures were steady on Friday as Asian investors stayed on the sidelines a day after a series of bomb blasts in London triggered wide swings in the price of the industrial metal. Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange was trading at $3,315/$3,325.
The LME, the world's largest non-ferrous metals trading market, set a closing price of $3,315 per tonne on Thursday, although it cancelled its open outcry rings after the bombings and relied on its electronic system, LME Select.
"The blasts have taken away all interest from the market," said a trader in Hong Kong. "It will be trading in a very tight range. There's no buying interest."
It is not yet clear whether LME rings will open later on Friday. The exchange said on its Web site it would review the situation on Friday in London.
Copper is currently trading about 3.2 percent below record levels hit last month. Just after on Thursday's attacks, prices dropped to $3,260, before rebounding later in the day.
Traders in Asia added the market could ease further amid talk stocks in China would increase. This week, LME warehouses in Singapore and Malaysia took delivery of their first copper in more than two months.
"That's the rumour: stocks in Shanghai will rise.
If it happens, the market should come off a bit," the trader added. Copper stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses stood at 28,669 tonnes as of June 30, down from 29,762 tonnes a week. But supply concerns remain. LME stocks are near there lowest in 31 years and, at 29,450 tonnes on Thursday, were less than two days' worth of global consumption.
In addition, workers at Placer Dome's Zaldivar mine in Chile and Group Mexico's Asarco unit in the United States remain on strike. In Shanghai, the most-active September copper contract was up 110 yuan from Thursday's settlement to 33,030 yuan a tonne.
Sterling struggled near 19-month lows against the dollar on Friday, after it had skidded lower following the blasts. The dollar gained against the Japanese currency to 112.35 yen, compared with 112.09 yen in late US trade.
A stronger US currency makes dollar-denominated commodities expensive to holders of other currencies and makes metals a less attractive investment tool.
LME three-month aluminium was trading at $1,730/$1,735 a tonne, from a close of $1,732. LME three-month nickel was trading at $14,500/$14,600 a tonne.
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