Well copper is right back up there again. Look at a chart since January , upwards with pull backs. You are still wrong. Bloomberg comment today follows.
Copper Prices Rise on Signs of Strong Demand From U.S. Builders
2002-06-28 12:08 (New York)
Copper Prices Rise on Signs of Strong Demand From U.S. Builders
New York, June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices had their
biggest gain in a month on strong demand from U.S. builders and
signs that consumers are more confident about the economy than
analysts expected.
Robust demand from builders, the biggest users of copper, has
contributed to a 19 percent rise in futures prices this year. New
homes sold at a record pace in May with U.S. mortgage rates at a
seven-month low. An index of consumer confidence published today
was higher than economists expected.
``The copper market is encouraged by good U.S. home sales and
the maintenance of low interest rates,'' said Tony Nappi, a copper
trader at Triland USA Inc. in New York. ``The consumer is really
holding up the economy.''
Copper for September delivery rose as much as 1.85 cents, or
2.4 percent, to 77.85 cents a pound on the Comex division of the
New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest one-day gain since May
28. Prices have risen 3.8 percent this week and were up 2 percent
for the quarter.
In London, copper for delivery in three months rose as much
as $27, or 1.6 percent, to $1,688 a metric ton (76.57 cents a
pound) on the London Metal Exchange.
U.S. new homes sales soared 8.1 percent in May to a record
annual rate of 1.03 million units following a 3.9 percent rise in
April, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.
The reading of 92.4 in the University of Michigan's index of
consumer sentiment, while down from May, was higher than the 90.8
that economists had forecast.
An average single-family home contains about 400 pounds of
copper, and construction accounts for about 40 percent of demand
for the metal, according to the Copper Development Association, a
New York-based industry group.
Demand for new homes has been buoyed by low borrowing costs,
even during a recession last year. The average rate on a 30-year
fixed mortgage fell to 6.55 percent this week, the lowest level
since the week ended Nov. 16, according to Freddie Mac, the second-
largest buyer of U.S. mortgages.
Federal Reserve policy makers on Wednesday left their
benchmark interest rate at a four-decade low of 1.75 percent.
--Claudia Carpenter in the New York newsroom (212) 318-2346 or at
ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net. Editors: Bixby. *Cox. |
