Copper, Nickel Rise in London on Index-Fund Buying, Stockpiles
By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen
Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Copper advanced to a two-month high and nickel rose to its highest in eight weeks in London as index funds bought for the new year and reports suggested stockpiles of the metals are declining. Aluminum and zinc also climbed.
Investors in index funds such as Standard and Poor's GSCI have been buying as indexes are rebalanced in favor of some industrial metals. About 13 percent of copper stockpiles and 4 percent of nickel may be withdrawn, London Metal Exchange data indicated.
``If there is a significant deceleration in global industrial production or metal demand, it is not evident in any LME metals at present,'' Andrew Keen, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in London, said today in a report. Index rebalancing has been contributing to gains so far this year, he said.
The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index of 26 commodities has gained 3.5 percent this year and reached a record yesterday.
Copper for delivery in three months climbed $170, or 2.4 percent, to $7,400 a metric ton as of 11:45 a.m. in London. It earlier reached $7,450 a ton, the highest since Nov. 7. Nickel rose as much as 2.9 percent to $30,750 a ton, the highest since Nov. 19.
So-called canceled warrants for copper, or metal bought and due to be withdrawn from storage, expanded 9,825 tons, or 62 percent, to 25,600 tons, the exchange said in a daily report. That's the most since July 3. The level has more than tripled since Jan. 3.
The spread between the price for immediate delivery and the benchmark three-month contract narrowed to a discount of 76 cents a ton, from $1.25 yesterday, indicating less availability. The discount was the lowest since Nov. 19.
Copper Stockpiles
Copper inventories monitored by the LME fell 225 tons to 200,750 tons. Including those monitored by the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange, they were at 238,153 tons, equal to 4.8 days of global consumption. It averaged 4.9 days last year.
Copper for delivery in March added 2.2 percent to $3.372 a pound during after-hours electronic trade on Comex.
Canceled warrants for nickel have almost tripled since Jan. 3 to 1,884 tons, the most since Dec. 12.
Aluminum rose $15.75 to $2,520.75 a ton and tin added $50 to $16,550. Zinc advanced $18 to $2,598 a ton and lead dropped $5 to $2,655 a ton.
Following are technical gauges for copper:
20-day moving average 6,773 100-day moving average 7,307 200-day moving average 7,451 14-day relative strength index 65.97
Fibonacci Start End 50% 61.8% 5,250 8,335 6,792 7,156 To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in London at [email protected]
Last Updated: January 9, 2008 06:57 EST
AVM Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)