copper edges up despite growth worries 8.6.11

Enjoy guys! again! copper the the future once everything loads up again!


Copper edges up despite growth worries
Naureen Malik From: Dow Jones Newswires June 08, 2011 6:18AM

Copper prices teetered in and out of negative territory for much of the day as traders weighed the workers' strike at Codelco's second-largest mine against mixed sentiment about the pace of demand growth from China, the US and other markets.

Copper traders are also watching developments in Peru and whether the newly elected president, left-wing nationalist Ollanta Humala, who claimed victory over centre-right Congresswoman Keiko Fujimori, will push for greater nationalisation of resources in the world's second-largest copper-producing country.

Meanwhile, macroeconomic concerns continue to pressure copper prices, traders and analysts said.

"People are concerned about demand through the summer given the sort of lack of restart of factory production in Japan and concerns about China slowing," Mr North said.

A number of Japanese factories making automotive and electronic components are still shut in the wake of the March 11 earthquake, creating a backlog of industrial consumption around the world, the RBC trader said.

After the recent run-up, the copper market "is trying to determine and build a new plateau in the $US4 region, it needs to consolidate," said Ira Epstein, director of the Ira Epstein division of the Linn Group. "We are in a period of adjustment."

Several traders have said market prices are in a soft spot, oscillating between key technical levels of $US3.90 and $US4.20.

"Markets are dominated by momentum, and if prices will not extend in the next couple trading sessions to $US4.20," they could drop to test recent lows, said Rob Preston, market analyst at Heritage West Financial.

Mr Epstein, though, said copper prices could continue "coiling" -- or trading in narrower ranges to find a support level -- through the summer months.

"You already see a $US4 home because of China and India and South America" while an eventual recovery in the US economy could drive prices higher in the longer run, he said.

source

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/markets/copper-edges-up-despite-growth-worries/story-e6frg91o-1226071400714