RTRS:REFILE-METALS-Copper falls as Greece bailout talks knock euro
* China physical copper market remains quiet
* Deadline looms for Greece to accept bailout deal
By Maytaal Angel and Melanie Burton
LONDON/SHANGHAI, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Copper eased on Monday as the
dollar rallied on concerns that Greece had yet to agree on the terms of a new
bailout to avoid debt default and on continued lacklustre demand from top
consumer China.
The dollar rose versus the euro, making dollar-priced metals costly for
European investors, as a deadline loomed for Athens to tell the European Union
whether it would accept the terms of a new 130 billion euro ($170.6 billion)
bailout. ID:nL5E8D50M5]
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dropped 1.02 percent
to $8,483.50 a tonne by 1048 GMT from $8,575. On Friday, copper hit a one
week-high of $8,598.50 and was up for a fourth consecutive week.
"In terms of consumption everyone's already written off Europe, (but) if the
dollar is going to strengthen that weighs on metals," said Standard Bank analyst
Marc Ground.
He added: "Fundamentals are quiet weak, especially in China, real demand is
just not there. Perhaps the market is catching up to that idea."
The physical market for copper in China was quiet on Monday, a trader based
in Hong Kong said, as factories started to reopen this week after the Lunar New
Year holidays.
Signs in Chinese futures markets still pointed to slack spot market demand,
with the front month SHFE contract trading at a steep discount of 730 yuan to
the most active April contract, compared with a 660 yuan discount on Friday.
"The degree of end demand pick-up post Chinese New Year will be key, but
with manufacturing output still seemingly running ahead of consumption and the
key property sector looking subdued, we believe the price may have to trade back
towards $8,000/T to attract interest," said Macquarie analysts in a note.
Limiting losses in copper was Friday's confidence-boosting U. S. jobs data,
which showed the world's biggest economy created jobs at the fastest pace in
nine months in January. That took the unemployment rate in the world's largest
economy to a three-year low of 8.3 percent.
In other metals news, an $80 billion marriage of commodities trader Glencore
International and global miner Xstrata Plc could lead to a new
round of takeovers in iron ore, creating a goliath eager to muscle its way into
one of mining's richest and most closely guarded sectors.
Shareholders in Xstrata are set to receive 2.8 shares in Glencore for each
share held as the two firms try to seal a deal, the Financial Times reported on
Monday.
Packaging metal aluminium fell 0.89 percent to $2,227 a tonne from
$2,247. LME data showed stocks rose 30,525 tonnes to hit a new record of 5.02
million tonnes, most of which is held in financing deals and unavailable to the
market.
Soldering metal tin fell 1.23 percent to $24,100 a tonne from
$24,400, while zinc, used in galvanizing dropped 0.38 percent to
$2,146.75 from $2,155, battery material lead fell 0.43 percent to
$2,215.50 from $2,225, while stainless-steel ingredient nickel dropped
0.77 percent to $21,140 from $21,305.
Metal Prices at 1052 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2009 Ytd Pct
move
LME Alum 2247.00 52.00 +2.37 2230.00 0.76
LME Cu 8560.00 -15.00 -0.17 7375.00 16.07
LME Lead 2224.00 -1.00 -0.04 2432.00 -8.55
LME Nickel 21305.00 0.00 +0.00 18525.00 15.01
LME Tin 24350.00 -50.00 -0.20 16950.00 43.66
LME Zinc 2154.00 -1.00 -0.05 2560.00 -15.86
SHFE Alu 16215.00 25.00 +0.15 17160.00 -5.51
SHFE Cu* 60530.00 710.00 +1.19 59900.00 1.05
SHFE Zin 16195.00 240.00 +1.50 21195.00 -23.59
** 1st contract month for COMEX copper
* 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN
SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07