Copper advanced for a fifth day to the highest level in more than five weeks after China’s imports rebounded last month, fueling optimism that demand is robust in the world’s largest metals user. Tin jumped to a record.
Three-month-delivery copper on the London Metal Exchange climbed as much as 0.7 percent to $9,944.75 per metric ton, the highest price since March 4, and was at $9,891.75 at 4:22 p.m. inSingapore. The contract also climbed on speculation the dollar may weaken further. Tin surged to a record $33,600 a ton.
“Imports rebounded strongly from February and this adds to positive sentiment,” Wang Jingjing, an analyst at Founder Futures Co., said from Hunan. “A large part of recent gains has actually been driven by investors looking for an alternative to the U.S. dollar.”
Imports of copper and products by China rose 29 percent in March to 304,299 tons, climbing from a two-year low of 235,469 tons in February, according to customs data issued yesterday. Shipments fell 33 percent from the same month last year.
May-delivery copper on the Comex in New York gained as much as 0.7 percent to $4.533 a pound, also the highest price since March 4. The metal for June-delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose for a fourth day, gaining as much as 1.1 percent to 73,940 yuan ($11,312) a ton, the highest since March 7.
The dollar was little changed against a six-currency basket, after touching a 16-month low on April 8 as U.S. lawmakers pulled the government back from a shutdown by agreeing to cut about $38 billion from federal spending this year.
The most-accurate currency strategists, as measured in data compiled by Bloomberg, see no recovery for the dollar in coming months as the Federal Reserve delays raising interest ratesafter the end of its $600 billion asset-purchase program in June.
Lead in London gained as much as 1.9 percent to $2,904 a ton, the highest price since April 2008, and aluminum rose as much as 0.3 percent to $2,720 a ton, the highest level since September 2008. Nickel climbed 0.8 percent to $27,811 a ton while zinc gained 0.6 percent to $2,548.50 a ton.
Posts
0 comments