Copper turned positive on Friday after Hosni Mubarak stepped down as Egypt's president, as a resolution of the country's political crisis boosted investors' risk appetite, but concerns about Chinese demand capped gains. Copper for three-months delivery on the London Metal Exchange ended at $9,961 a tonne from a close of $9,951 on Thursday.
"Copper sold off early today on concerns over the situation in Egypt but then news that Mubarak left Cairo and stepped down pushed prices up," MF Global energy and metals analyst Edward Meir said. Copper struck a record high of $10,160 a tonne on Monday on the back of concerns about supply, as well as improving economic data that bode well for demand.
Tin earlier struck a record high of $31,800 a tonne. It finished at $31,775 from $31,500 at Thursday's close. "If you take a view for the next few months, sentiment is still very positive," Daniel Briesemann, an analyst at Commerzbank, said of copper. "The major driver is supply constraints...," he said "...with tin as well."
Stocks of copper in LME warehouses fell 225 tonnes to 396,725 tonnes, but a recent trend of rising stocks has raised some concerns about the demand outlook. Underscoring these worries, Shanghai copper stocks rose nearly 10,000 tonnes to 144,197 tonnes. Aluminium finished at $2,496 a tonne from $2,537. Stocks of the metal used in transport and packaging fell 2,325 tonnes but were just 41,300 tonnes off a record high of 4,640,750 tonnes hit on January 20, 2010. Zinc closed at $2,465 from $2,448 a tonne and battery material lead ended at $2,560 from $2,510 a tonne. Stainless steel material nickel finished at $28,325 from a close of $27,875 a tonne.
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