Copper edges up

Copper edged up on Wednesday, clawing back earlier losses as the dollar weakened and after upbeat jobs data, but concern high oil prices might hit global growth through inflation kept sentiment sober. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange, untraded at the close, was last bid at $9,889 a tonne from $9,885 at Tuesday's close.
Helping copper bounce off a session low of $9,786.25, the dollar fell against a broad currency basket. That garnered some metals support from non-US investors. The euro rose to a near four-month high and the Swiss franc hit a record high versus the US currency. But sentiment remained weak due to unrest in North Africa and the Middle East. Brent crude neared $118 a barrel as forces loyal to Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi battled rebels over major towns in the oil-exporting country.
"A lot of people are watching what's going in Libya and the Middle East," Alex heath of RBC Capital Markets said. "There is a continuing fear that energy and oil supplies are going to be disrupted." Supporting the mood, however, a report showed US private employers added 217,000 jobs in February, beating analysts' expectations.
Copper stocks rose 3,275 tonnes, the latest data showed, bringing LME inventories to 423,550 tonnes, their highest since mid-July 2010. Stocks have climbed by a fifth since mid-December, mostly into LME locations in Asia as metal is diverted from Chinese ports that are already well-supplied. "Stockpiles at exchanges remain elevated after sizeable inflows in January and February," said Credit Suisse Private Banking in a note.
"Accordingly, we expect industrial metals to have further upside once inventories start to drop more convincingly again." Aluminium output from top producer China could rise by 24 percent this year to 20 million tonnes, an official of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association said.
Global aluminium supply this year is expected at around 45 million tonnes. This is some one million tonnes more than this week's estimate from Aluminium Corp of China Ltd, the world's most valuable aluminium company. Aluminium closed at $2,603 a tonne from $2,610 at the Tuesday close. The power-intensive metal hit a 2-1/2 year peak the day before at $2,617.25. Zinc was at $2,480 a tonne from $2,515, while lead stood at $2,564 from $2,555. Stainless steel material nickel was at $28,600 a tonne from $28,775 and tin was at $31,600 from $32,200.