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Gold/Mining/Energy : Copper - analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen O who wrote (1196)	5/12/2005 10:29:20 AM
From: Stephen O	Respond to of 2131

Copper Falls Most Since March Amid Dollar Gain, China Supplies 2005-05-12 09:57 (New York) By Jennifer Itzenson May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices in New York fell the most in seven weeks on prospects for slowing demand growth in Europe and speculation that supplies have increased in China, the world's largest buyer of the metal. The European Commission today cut its second-quarter growth forecast, sending the euro to a six-month low against the dollar. In China, where demand growth helped send copper to a 16-year high last month, as much as 50,000 metric tons of the metal arrived in Shanghai last week, almost three times what was in storage, China International Futures analyst Cai Luoyi said. ``Some of the tightness in Shanghai appears to be easing up a bit,'' said Tom Boustead, an analyst at Refco LLC in New York. ``The dollar being a bit stronger is a negative for copper.'' Copper futures for July delivery fell 4.65 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $1.396 a pound at 9:56 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. A close at that price would be the biggest percentage decline since March 23 and the lowest since Feb. 9. Before today, copper prices were up 21 percent from a year earlier, mostly because mining companies have been unable to keep up with demand growth, particularly in the U.S. and China. A decline last year in the dollar against the euro helped boost the price of the metal, used in cars, homes and appliances, by 39 percent last year. The dollar rose today to the highest since November against the euro after a government report said U.S. retail sales in April climbed the most in seven months. The Brussels-based European Commission said it expects second-quarter growth of 0.4 percent, paring an April 14 prediction of 0.5 percent. Copper in Dollars Copper is priced in dollars, making the metal more expensive for holders of other currencies when the dollar strengthens. U.S. retail sales rose 1.4 percent, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. The median of 69 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey was for a gain of 0.7 percent. On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, copper for delivery in July fell 280 yuan, or 0.9 percent, to 32,200 yuan ($3,890) a ton. The exchange was closed last week for a Labor Day holiday. Prices of copper for immediate delivery in Shanghai dropped for the second day today after as much as 50,000 tons of the metal that arrived during the weeklong holiday made its way to the cash market, China International's Cai said. ``The customs office was closed during the holiday and the copper that arrived was still at the ports,'' Cai said. ``Traders and importers are selling the metal now after registering it.'' Inventories monitored by the Shanghai exchange totaled 17,265 tons as of April 28, the latest available. On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months fell $90, or 2.8 percent, to $3,091 a metric ton ($1.402 a pound). A futures contract is an obligation to buy or sell a commodity at a set price by a specific date. --With reporting by Chia-Peck Wong in Singapore. Editor: Stroth.