Shanghai copper climbs

The most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed by 0.43 percent to close at 51,710 yuan ($8,400) a tonne on Monday, as investors covered short positions ahead of a key Federal Reserve meeting that could provide greater clarity on US monetary policy.
But rising inflation figures could prompt the Fed to rein in stimulus sooner than expected, sapping the liquidity available to metals producers and commodities investors, said Jonathan Barratt, chief executive of Barratt's Bulletin, a Sydney-based commodity research firm Fundamental demand remains steady and is likely to keep a floor under prices, Barratt said. "We're at that point where the market is pretty happy to be here, and not to push too much lower. China's 7 percent growth still requires copper as does the housing market in the States," he said.