Copper prices up as inventories decline

Copper prices managed gains amid mixed messages from US economic reports as inventories monitored by both the London Metals Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange declined.

December copper was 3 cents higher to $2.74 per pound in New York trade while three-month copper added $40 to $5,990 per tonne in London after LME-monitored stockpiles dropped by 175 tonnes during the session to 340,700 tonnes.

Meanwhile, Shanghai-monitored inventories were down 5.3 percent this week from last week’s levels.

The good news on the US economy was that the Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment was at 73.5 in September, up from 65.7 in August and better than expected, while the Commerce Department reported that new home sales were up 0.7 percent in the US in August, but that gain was below predictions.

On the other hand, the Commerce Department said in a separate report that durable goods orders fell by 2.4 percent in August.

Base metals prices were mixed on the session with lead adding $14 to $2,185 per tonne in London, while zinc was up by $16 to $1,880 per tonne and tin gained $50 to $14,400 per tonne in addition to copper’s gains.

On the other hand, aluminium dropped $25 to $1,815 per tonne even though LME inventories dropped by another 4,450 tonnes during the session while nickel was down $200 to $16,900 per tonne.

Precious metals prices were lower on the session as December gold fell $7.50 to $991.40 per troy ounce after the dollar strengthened, while December silver was down 24 cents to $16.06 per troy ounce and January platinum dropped $24.80 to $1,288.90 per troy ounce.