Industrial metals rose on Wednesday in thin markets with buyers preparing for the start of top consumer China's Lunar New Year break. "The market is volatile and it makes it very difficult to trade and the uncertainty about the outlook of the global economy is spilling over into metals," a London Metal Exchange floor trader said.
Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange ended the day at $7,330 a tonne, up from $7,130 on Tuesday. "We think the US economy is soft/recession oriented," said Kimberly Tara, chief executive at fund firm FourWinds Capital Management. However, she expected to see a fairly substantial decoupling of Asia and Europe from the US economy.
"As a result we expect base metals demand and prices to be driven primarily by the Asian market going forward," she said. This would underpin prices over the next 12 to 18 months.
Earlier copper, used in the construction and power sectors, hit an intraday low of $7,025, down 1.5 percent and in the previous session it shed 1.8 percent. The option expiry, which triggered buying into copper, and a fall in LME stocks down 2,800 tonnes to 171,975 aided sentiment.
Three-months aluminium gained $17 to $2,642. Traders said the February option expiry, when contract holders can exercise their right to buy or sell the underlying metals futures at a specified price, saw the calls at strike $2,500 being declared.
Traders expected copper prices to drift lower with $7,000 as a critical support level and breaking that prices were seen moving further south. "If the US markets opens lower they will take the metals down - it is all about equities," another LME floor trader.
Shares in BHP Billiton were down 4.8 percent. Zinc, used as a protective coating for steel, fell 4.9 percent in the previous session. It recovered to $2,385 per tonne on bargain hunting against Tuesday's $2,375.
Three-months tin was up $100 to $16,775/16,800. Stocks came in at 11,530 tonnes, down 25, and since the start of the year LME inventories have fallen 4 percent. "We anticipate prices to retest last November's peaks in light of the downtrend in LME tin inventories, China turning into a net tin importer and the slew of supply problems that have plagued the tin market," a Barclays Capital report said. Tin hit a record high of $17,575 on November 14. Lead was at $2,820, up $41, while nickel gained $100 to $26,900.
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