Copper recovers

Copper rose on Thursday, recovering from a one-month low hit the previous session as the dollar fell after Europe's central bank chief vowed to protect the euro, but weak corporate earnings and the longer-term impact of the debt crisis subdued gains. Data showing US jobless claims fell near a four year low helped markets, though it was offset by a mixed report on US durable goods in June, and by weak data that showed and US pending home sales unexpectedly fell in June.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged to do whatever was necessary to preserve the euro from collapse. The comments propelled commodities, equities and the euro higher and the dollar fell, making dollar-priced metals cheaper for European investors.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange ended up 0.32 percent at $7,470, recovering from Wednesday, when it touched the lowest in one month at $7,344.25 a tonne. "Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough," Draghi told an investment conference in London. Copper, used mainly in construction and power, has shed around 15 percent from the year's peak hit in February in the harsh economic climate.
"The latest comments from the ECB triggered the rally, that's today's story but in the background I do think the market is starting to price in increasing likelihood of quantitative easing, and that's visible in gold more than metals," said BNP Paribas analyst Stephen Briggs.
In the United States, the world's largest economy, data on Wednesday showed new home sales recorded their biggest drop in more than a year last month and house prices resumed their downward trend. On the downside for copper, however, there are persistent worries about the debt crisis in Europe, with the possibility of Spain applying for a full bailout shredding investor nerves.
The crisis also poses the biggest risk to China, the world's largest consumer of copper, the International Monetary Fund said, and expects economic growth to moderate to 8 percent. "That's all conspiring to see some risk taken off table. All the data points to economies in recession or continuing to slow, which is not good for the base metals complex," said Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar. "The general trend is still downwards.
"I think for the moment the trend is still lower and the charts still point to support levels being tested, and it would appear that some of the hot money is still playing from the short side," Bhar said. In tin, a sharp drop in the price has spurred a pickup in China purchases, RBC Capital said in a note. Three-month tin, one of the LME's smallest and most illiquid contracts, hit a 10-month low of $17,125 a tonne on Wednesday. It closed up 2.33 percent at $17,750 on Thursday. The metal is still down around 6 percent this week.
Tin and benchmark nickel "are both flirting with new yearly lows and show few signs of reversing," RBC said. "The shorts are piling in but have not reached the danger zone yet as indicators are not decidedly oversold." Nickel ended down 0.06 percent at $15,890. It hit a three year low earlier this week of $15,450. Aluminium closed up at $1,878.50 per tonne from $1,870 and lead ended up at $1,885 from $1,855. Zinc closed up at $1,815 from $1,801.