LONGER FOR STRONGER STILL INTACTMiners rebound as copper and...

LONGER FOR STRONGER STILL INTACT
Miners rebound as copper and nickel show true value
Bryce Elder

Larger capitalisation shares


Miners provided the bedrock as benchmarks pushed to their best levels in six years, with Kazakhmys, Xstrata and Rio Tinto all climbing in tandem with metals prices.
The mining sector has been among the laggards over the past three months amid concerns about slowing demand, with the FTSE 350 mining index losing 5 per cent since November compared with a 3 per cent gain for the wider market.



However, some investors believe that losses on the commodity markets were more to do with hedge funds selling down and that fundamental demand should remain robust. Copper and has rallied sharply in recent sessions, while nickel hit record levels yesterday.

“We believe that the emerging market growth story is still intact,” Credit Suisse said in a note upgrading the sector.

Kazakhmys jumped 51p to £11.19, having been the sector’s main casualty since November with a 16 per cent loss.

HSBC was advising clients to load up on the Kazakhstan copper miner ahead of economic reports due Friday on US housing and durable goods sales.

According to the broker, US aircraft orders surged in December and mortgage applications were strong.

Its team also predicted that copper demand should improve following the Chinese new year next month.