LME Copper Gains for 2nd Day, Focus on US Presidential Race
Nov 07, 2012 11:10 Source: Reuters
Summary:London copper edged up for a second session on Wednesday, pulling away from two-month lows reached earlier this week as investors awaited the outcome of a tightU.S.presidential election.
SHANGHAI, Nov 7 (Reuters) -Londoncopper edged up for a second session on Wednesday, pulling away from two-month lows reached earlier this week as investors awaited the outcome of a tightU.S.presidential election.
Regardless of who wins, the emergence of a clear winner should end the political uncertainty that has weighed on markets in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's vote, analysts say, fueling a relief rally in commodities in the previous session.
Fundamentals
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had risen by half a percent to $7,737 per tonne by 0236 GMT.
The most active February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange also rose 0.5 percent to 56,330 yuan ($9,000) a tonne.
"We suspect we could start seeing the initial workings of a 'relief rally' set in now that the U.S. elections are thankfully drawing to a close, all this after $2 billion in campaign spending and thousands of mindless television ads later," said INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir.
President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney were locked in a tight race with three critical battleground states too close to call as U.S. voters decided between two starkly different visions for the country.
Traders and investors agreed the markets want a clear winner by Wednesday morning, with investors scouring results from the swing states ofVirginiaandFloridaand, even more importantly,Ohio, for first clues.
Also keeping investors on edge isChina's once-a-decade leadership transition scheduled to start on Thursday and at which investors hope pro-growth measures will be introduced by the new government in the world's top copper consumer.
Ahead of the event, industry sources sayChinamay resume stockpiling of some base metals, including copper and aluminium, to help domestic smelters hurt by weak demand.
Market News
Asian shares were steady on Wednesday as investors hoped for a decisive result in a close-foughtU.S.presidential election, with early counting underway and voting continuing in crucial swing states which will decide the outcome.
The U.S. dollar was a touch softer inAsia, having retreated from a two-month high as markets awaited the outcome of the presidential election.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
1000 Euro zone Retail sales Sep
1100 Germany Industrial output Sep
2000 U.S. Consumer credit Sep
Base metals prices at 0236 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg
LME Cu 7737.00 37.00 +0.48 1.80
SHFE CU FUT FEB3 56330 270 +0.48 1.75
HG COPPER DEC2 351.10 0.50 +0.14 2.18
LME Alum 1930.00 10.00 +0.52 -4.46
SHFE AL FUT FEB3 15320 05 +0.03 -3.31
LME Zinc 1897.50 -1.50 -0.08 2.85
SHFE ZN FUT FEB3 14955 80 +0.54 1.08
LME Nickel 16215.00 140.00 +0.87 -13.34
LME Lead 2175.25 10.25 +0.47 6.89
SHFE PB FUT 15450.00 60.00 +0.39 1.08
LME Tin 20690.00 65.00 +0.32 7.76
LME/Shanghai arb^ 178
Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months
^ LME 3-month copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month
($1 = 6.2456 Chinese yuan)