Copper rises

Copper rose on Tuesday as the dollar fell after data from the world's largest economy, the United States, showed consumer confidence in September fell to its lowest level since February. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was untraded at the close, but its last bid was $7,951 a tonne from Monday's close at $7,910, reversing earlier losses.
The metal used in power and construction last week touched $7,990 a tonne, its highest since April 15. The dollar slid against the euro after data showing US single-family home prices fell in July. The euro jumped to a five-month high after data showed September consumer confidence in the United States, the world's largest economy, ebbed to its lowest levels since February.
"It is largely following the dollar," David Thurtell, analyst at Citi, said. "The market has been watching the Ireland and eurozone jitters." Metals tend to benefit as the dollar falls, because a weaker dollar makes them cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Copper prices are up more than 30 percent since early June on expectations of stronger economic and demand growth. Traders said concern about financial and economic stability in the eurozone had resurfaced with mounting concerns over the sovereign debt burden in Ireland and possible ratings downgrades there and in Spain.
"It raises again the whole issue of sovereign default," a trader said, adding the market was waiting for clues to metals demand from surveys of purchasing managers in the manufacturing sector, due next week. However, expectations are for low volumes and narrow ranges ahead of and during Chinese holidays. The most closely watched surveys will be those from top consumers China and the United States.
China's official Purchasing Managers' Index is likely to rise in September from August, rebounding further from a 17-month low in July as exports rose strongly and the government has kept policy in neutral. Stocks of copper in LME warehouses at 375,275 tonnes are down more than 30 percent since the middle of February and the lowest since last November.
Worries about nearby copper supplies can be seen in the narrowing discount - at around $3 a tonne from about $25 a tonne in early August - for cash material over the three-month contract. Traders are also watching large holdings of LME stock warrants and cash contracts on aluminium alloy, primary aluminium, copper and nickel. Three-month aluminium ended at $2,309 a tonne from $2,293 at the close on Monday, zinc at $2,215 from $2,207 and lead at $2,281 from $2,269. Tin traded at $24,000 from $23,650 and nickel traded at $23,175 from $23,050 on Monday.