Copper hit 16-month highs on Wednesday, with London metal up nearly 1 percent, piercing $7,300 for second day running, defying a stronger dollar on confidence about the trend into 2010. The US dollar hit a two-month high against the yen on Wednesday and also gained versus a basket of six other major currencies, keeping the firm tone that has developed in the past few weeks.
But industrial metals seemed immune to the strength in dollar, which usually exhibits an inverse relationship with commodities. Shanghai's benchmark third-month copper futures contract rose 1.1 percent to end at 58,990 yuan a tonne, after hitting 59,000 yuan, a new 16-month high. The most-active contract for April delivery ended up nearly 1 percent at 59,130 yuan a tonne. Three-month copper at the London Metal Exchange was up $50 at $7,325 a tonne by 0701 GMT, after hitting a near-16 month high of $7,344.25.
Both markets are on course for annual rises of 140 to 150 percent, with LME copper set for its biggest annual rise in at least three decades and Shanghai for its biggest rise ever.
Comments
Comments are closed.