Metals prices mixed as copper gains, gold declines

Metals prices were mixed Friday as copper and some other base metals saw gains, but nickel and lead declined, as did gold and platinum prices.

December copper added 4 cents to $3.03 per pound in New York and three-month copper was up $64 to $6,649 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange after going as high as $6,714 per tonne during the session, its highest level in over a year.

The gains came on US data showing that existing home sales were up 9.4 percent in September, although some analysts said that the big gain was not a trend but an artifact of home buyers hurrying to close purchases before a tax credit expires in November, and on bigger gains than expected in factory orders in the Eurozone in August.

But gains for the metal used on manufacturing and construction were held back by gains in the US dollar and LME-monitored inventories that continued to climb, adding 3,000 tonnes on the session to bring gains since July to 40 percent.

Additionally, some analysts said in a survey that they suspect copper prices could fall next week on signs that US demand will recover more slowly than had been hoped.

Aluminium added $6 in London to $1,872 per tonne as inventories fell by over 5,000 tonnes but remained near record highs, while zinc added $23 to $2,273 per tonne and tin gained $145 to $15,145 per tonne.

Lead, on the other hand, dropped $45 to $2,360 per tonne while nickel was down $250 to $18,950 per tonne in London.

Among precious metals, meanwhile, December gold fell $2.20 to $1,056.40 per troy ounce and January platinum was down 40 cents to $1,369.50 per troy ounce, but December silver added 20 cents to $17.74 per troy ounce.