Copper prices barely higher in London, lower in New York

Copper prices were mixed Friday as worries about demand in China and concerns that recovery from the recession is not as close as had been hoped hurt sentiment even though stockpiles of the metal, used in manufacturing and construction, dropped 12,850 tonnes to 357,800 tonnes in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange during the session.

Also hurting was new data showing that Germany’s gross domestic product dropped by 3.8 percent in the first quarter of the year, putting in question an expected gain in demand.

While three-month copper added $5 to $4,450 per tonne in London, July contracts for copper in New York dropped 2 cents in midday trade to $2.01 per pound.

Other base metals prices were mixed.

Aluminium was $9 lower to $1,522 per tonne as LME stockpiles added 49,275 tonnes to nearly 4 million tonnes, prompting analysts to predict that inventories could top 5 million tonnes this year, while nickel was down $125 to $12,425 per tonne.

On the other hand, lead added $52 to $1,482 per tonne while tin traded higher in a range around $13,650 to $13,700 per tonne on supply concerns.

Zinc was nearly flat as it traded in a range around $1,495 to $1,500 per tonne.

In midday trade in New York, June gold had added $4 to $932.40 per troy ounce on the possibility that recent gains in equities markets might have just about run their course, but July silver had dropped 2 cents to $14.02 per troy ounce.