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Shanghai copper recovers

(China Daily/agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-04 07:58

Shanghai copper prices rose 3 percent yesterday while London futures reversed early losses as a rise in equities stabilized the market, but traders see more weakness in the near term as the market faces "a wall of worry".

A 4.8 percent surge in Chinese equities gave metals a late afternoon sugar rush, lifting Shanghai copper to a two-day high and lighting a fire under London which had spent most of the day in the red.

"When the Shanghai composite moves significantly we get a run in metals. It's not an absolute link but today at least Shanghai shares rose, driving up the local metals market which fed into London," a dealer in Melbourne said.

The correlation between the two markets averaged out at 0.11 in the past month, implying almost no link, but the 6 percent fall in Chinese shares this week and yesterday's rally did feed through to metals.

Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange MCU3 rose $57 to $6,232 a ton by 0713 GMT.

Related readings:  Shanghai copper recovers  Shanghai copper falls on growth concerns   Shanghai copper up on positive global cues  Shanghai copper limit up, chasing LME gains

Benchmark third-month Shanghai copper SCFc3 rallied 1,430 yuan to close at 48,820 yuan. When the Chinese market shut on Wednesday London copper was trading at $6,098.

London copper, which has doubled in price this year, has lost as much as 8 percent from an 11-month high to a near two-week low since Friday and although many expect a soggy September, longer term the outlook is sunnier.

"Base metals have been the strongest sub-sector across almost every asset class and a lot of positive news has been included in prices so the data doesn't always have the expected effect," Barclays Capital analyst Yingxi Yu said.

"But we expect to see improvements in fundamentals in the next few months, and pullbacks will offer a buying opportunity."

London aluminum MAL3 added 0.7 percent to $1,858. Lead MPB3 rose $21 to $2,132, just $13, or 0.6 percent as worries grow about supplies from China after smelters closures.