LONDON: Thje price of copper rose on Monday, pulling away from the previous session's two-week low as a retreat in the dollar after its biggest one-week gain this year tempted buyers back to the metal.
Copper, chiefly used in construction, slid more than 2 percent on Friday to a low of $6,782.50, its weakest since Oct. 11.
"A large part of the move last week was due to strength in the dollar," ING analyst Warren Patterson said. "Now we're seeing a correction. The dollar is weaker, and you can see across the base metals complex that it's a little bit firmer today."
"Sentiment around the base metals is still fairly positive," he added. "On Friday we got some good GDP numbers out of the United States for the third quarter, and the stronger data does support a more robust demand side for the base metals market."
LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper was up 0.3 percent at $6,850 a tonne in official midday trading.
LME WEEK: Volumes are expected to be muted as traders, producers and end-users gather in London for an industry-wide conference this week.
FINANCIAL MARKETS: The dollar slipped on Monday after its biggest weekly rise this year while world stocks hit another record high, with European trading lifted after a poll eased investors' concerns over the political crisis in Spain.
COPPER PRODUCTION: Glencore lowered its production forecast for copper, zinc and coal on Monday, citing operational difficulties, maintenance and end-of-mine-life declines.
STOCKS: On-warrant copper inventories available to the market in LME-registered warehouses fell another 2,300 tonnes to 160,950 tonnes, down 30 percent from the start of October and the lowest in six weeks.
TECHNICALS: LME copper looks neutral in the $6,787-$6,851 a tonne range, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said, but added that the bias could be towards the downside, as a head-and-shoulders suggests a target at $6,730.
COPPER FUTURES: Hedge funds and money managers in the week to Oct. 24 raised their net long positions in copper by 1,026 contracts to 108,739 contracts, a six-week high, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday.
ALUMINIUM RESTARTS: Aluminium maker Norsk Hydro may restart a mothballed Norwegian production line as global metals markets tighten following a Chinese clampdown on pollution, its chief executive told Reuters.
ALUMINIUM PRICES: LME aluminium was untraded in official midday rings but was last bid down 0.4 percent at $2,160 a tonne, off last week's 5-1/2 year high of $2,215.
OTHER METALS: LME lead was 0.2 percent lower in official trading at $2,420, while nickel, zinc and tin were untraded in official rings. Zinc was last bid up 1 percent at $3,203 a tonne after falling 1.6 percent on Friday, while tin was down 0.6 percent at $19,750 a tonne and nickel was 0.5 percent lower at $11,525.
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