SINGAPORE: London copper was steady on Wednesday, trading short of the previous session's record high and just $50 shy of $10,000, buoyed by positive data from China and the United States and speculative interest in physical commodities.
FUNDAMENTALS
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange raised $4.50 to $9,949.50 a tonne by 0142 GMT. Copper hit a record $9,968 on Tuesday.
"People are making a fuss about copper at $10,000, but aside from its psychological value, it's just another number, albeit a very big number," said a trader in Sydney.
"That's what we really need to be thinking about. It's an exciting milestone, but what does it mean for a consumer? They were unhappy with copper at $9,900, $9,500 and $9,000. Even below $9,000 there were grumbles. That's one of the reasons why the physical market has ground to a halt and premiums in Asia are lousy."
Traders said there was significant pent up speculative demand for metals and other commodities.
Some of that was slowly trickling into ETF Securities' physical copper exchange traded products. The amount of metal in the copper product rose by 125 tonnes to 2,070 tonnes as of Feb.1, according to ETF Securities website on Tuesday.
Holdings in physical nickel were unchanged at around 402 tonnes while physical tin holdings more than doubled to 180 tonnes from 80 tonnes at the end of January.
Tuesdays HSBC's China Purchasing Manager Index data showed stronger growth in the country's vast manufacturing sector, followed by an acceleration in manufacturing in both the euro zone and the United States, which expanded at its fastest pace in nearly seven years.
However, official data showed a bigger-than-expected slowdown in China's manufacturing growth. China's official purchasing managers' index fell to a five-month low of 52.9 in January, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said, missing the median forecast of 53.5 in a Reuters poll.
Chinese markets are closed for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, and other markets in Asia also on a break.
Tin was steady at $30,155, having hit a record $30,400 on Tuesday.
MARKET NEWS
Japan's Nikkei average extended the previous day's gains on Wednesday after global markets rallied on strong manufacturing data and easing concerns about the Middle East, but its rise may be limited with the yen at 1-month highs against the dollar.
The euro held above $1.38 versus the dollar after it hit a 2-1/2-month high on Tuesday, driven by solid global manufacturing data, though analysts said risk appetite could
Fade if worries resurface about Europe's ability to manage its debt crisis.
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