By Glenys Sim Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Copper, little changed in Asia, may decline as some investors deem the recent rally as unjustified as global stockpiles of the metal used in construction and automobiles keep rising. Stockpiles tallied by the London Metal Exchange expanded for a 14th day to 323,225 metric tons yesterday, the highest level since May 26. Copper inventories in Shanghai climbed for a seventh week last week to a two-year high of 97,396 tons. The metal climbed 4.6 percent in the past two days on better-than- estimated U.S. retail sales and industrial production data. “It’s getting difficult for copper to push past $6,500 as investors see those inventory numbers growing,” said Jiang Mingjun, an analyst at Shanghai Oriental Futures Co. Three-month delivery copper was unchanged at $6,420 a ton on the London Metal Exchange at 10:21 a.m. in Singapore. December-delivery copper in New York fell as much as 0.6 percent to $2.9180 a pound. The December-delivery contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed 1.9 percent to 49,700 yuan ($7,281) a ton at the same time, after gaining as much as 2.6 percent earlier. “Fund flows and the weaker dollar are what’s keeping the market supported over $6,000, not fundamentals,” said Jiang. The dollar traded near a one-year low versus the euro amid optimism the global recession is easing. Asian stocks extended a global rally before reports forecast to show U.S. housing starts rose and manufacturing improved. Among other LME-traded metals, aluminum rose 0.3 percent to $1,932.50 a ton and lead climbed 0.7 percent to $2,310 a ton. Zinc was little changed at $1,933.25 a ton, while nickel and tin hadn’t traded as of 10:23 a.m. in Singapore.

Source