Copper gains

Copper rose on Tuesday as an agreement by French banks to rollover Greek debt supported appetite for riskier assets but caution remained ahead of Greece's vote on austerity measures later in the week. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) traded at $9,020 a tonne in official rings from $8,970 at Monday's close.
"There is some sort of optimism to be found in markets currently and that is benefiting commodities," Danske Bank analyst Christin Tuxen said. France offered a radical solution on Monday for banks to roll over some Greek debt for 30 years as the Greek government fought for political support of its five-year austerity plan to avert bankruptcy. Any new financial rescue for Athens, including official lending and private sector participation, depends on the Greek parliament approving this week a five-year austerity plan and legislation to implement structural reforms and privatisation.
In macroeconomic news that may affect prices via currencies, investors will watch out for data out of the world's largest economy, with US consumer confidence for June and S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index for April due later on Tuesday. The European Central Bank looks all but certain to raise interest rates in July. "What has been weighing for commodities for a while is that investor appetite has been waning somewhat - both with risk appetite lower in general and also with the prospect of central banks hiking interest rates," Tuxen said.
"That has really been hurting commodities in recent months and that is something that could continue for a while going forward." Lower copper stocks at LME warehouses were also supportive to prices. Latest data showed copper inventories fell 2,150 tonnes to 468,375 tonnes. But levels are still about 35 percent higher than in December. In tin, cancelled warrants, metal tagged for removal from LME warehouses, jumped 2,460 tonnes in Singapore.
The discount for the tin cash contract against the benchmark three-months contract settled at $68 on Monday, the widest levels in more than a year. Japanese shipments of aluminium products rose 0.8 percent in May from a year earlier to 166,885 tonnes, industry data showed, helped by a recovery in some production after the destructive March earthquake. "More data are showing that Japan has meanwhile recovered from the heavy earthquake disaster in March," Commerzbank said in a note. "... Like copper, this trend is attributable to higher demand, which has recovered at a faster pace than initially thought."
Aluminium traded at $2,512 in rings from $2,510 a tonne, while zinc, used in galvanising steel, traded at $2,234 from $2,254 a tonne. Battery material lead traded at $2,565 from $2,570 a tonne and tin traded at $25,250 from $25,100 a tonne. Nickel traded at $22,525 from $22,225 a tonne.