Copper Advances, page-9

MARKET NEWS
FEBRUARY 15, 2018 / 2:27 PM / A DAY AGO
METALS--Copper rises for a 4th day to a 10-day high on weaker dollar, growth outlook

Reuters Staff
4 MIN READ


MELBOURNE, Feb 15 (Reuters) - London copper rose for a
fourth day to the highest in 10 days on Thursday, supported by a
decline in the dollar and robust prospects for global growth.

FUNDAMENTALS
* London Metal Exchange copper rose by 0.3 percent
to $7,186.50 a tonne by 0245 GMT. Prices have risen for a fourth
straight session, gaining 6.4 percent during this period. Copper
earlier climbed as high as $7,195, the highest since Feb. 5.
* SHFE: The Shanghai Futures Exchange was closed for the
Lunar New Year holiday. Markets will reopen on Thursday Feb. 22.
^^^^(This is interesting, as we'll see how much of a part the Chinese will play in Copper/Zinc base metals).
* DOLLAR: The dollar extended its losses against the yen and
hit a fresh 15-month low on Thursday, with market participants
bracing for further near-term weakness in the U.S. currency.
* DEMAND: Strong exports drove robust growth in Germany at
the end of last year while inflation stayed subdued in January,
adding to signs that Europe's biggest economy is on track to
extend its upswing well into 2018.
* COPPER SUPPLY: Chilean mining company Antofagasta
received environmental approval for a major $1.1 billion revamp
of its Los Pelambres copper mine, the regional government of
Coquimbo said on Wednesday. (Right time, for the right metal, people are moving FAST)!
The three-stage infrastructure upgrade, unveiled in 2016,
seeks to maintain the mine's copper output at approximately
400,000 tonnes of copper annually.
* ZAMBIA MINING: The president of major copper producer
Zambia Edgar Lungu appointed new finance and mining ministers in
a reshuffle on Wednesday that included changes in numerous other
departments as well.
* ORDERS: Japan's core machinery orders tumbled in December
at the fastest pace in more than three years and companies
expect orders to rise only marginally in January to March,
raising concerns that recent gains in capital expenditure will
taper off.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian stocks gained on Thursday after Wall Street brushed
aside strong U.S. inflation data and surged, a counterintuitive
move that also saw the dollar pinned at two-week lows even as
Treasury yields jumped in anticipation of a quicker pace of U.S.
interest rate hikes.

DATA/EVENTS
1000 Euro zone Eurostat trade Dec
1330 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
1330 U.S. Philly Fed business index Feb
1330 U.S. New York Fed manufacturing Feb
1415 U.S. Industrial production Jan
1500 U.S. NAHB housing market index Feb
PRICES

BASE METALS PRICES 0253 GMT
Three month LME copper 7189.5
Most active ShFE copper 0
Three month LME aluminium 2188
Most active ShFE aluminium 0
Three month LME zinc 3560.5
Most active ShFE zinc 0
Three month LME lead 2589.5
Most active ShFE lead 0
Three month LME nickel 14155
Most active ShFE nickel 0
Three month LME tin 21555
Most active ShFE tin 0



(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Christian
Schmollinger)