Copper cuts losses

Copper fell on Wednesday in cautious trade ahead of a US Federal Reserve decision on interest rates and on concerns about rising inventories, although US data and a weaker dollar helped limit losses. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange closed at $9,321 against a close of $9,545 a tonne on Tuesday.
New orders for long-lasting US manufactured goods rose more than expected in March and bookings for the prior month were much stronger than initially thought, pointing to continued strength in the manufacturing sector. "It certainly paints a picture that demand is continuing to grow," said analyst Gayle Berry of Barclays Capital.
"The dollar is playing a role to help," said Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann. "At the moment it's definitely the time to go on vacation, that's more or less why the markets are very calm and maybe a little bit depressed at the moment." After the Easter long weekend, which ended on Monday, Britain has another short week, with some markets closed on Friday for a royal wedding and on Monday for May Day.
Copper inventories rose 3,400 tonnes to 463,500 tonnes, the highest level since mid June last year. Stocks have climbed for 13 of the last 15 sessions, in a seasonally strong quarter for demand, creating worries over consumption for the metal used in power and construction. Copper is mainly used in electrical applications such as power transmission, building wiring, telecommunications and electronic products.
Aluminium, untraded at the close, was bid at $2,743.50 from a close of $2,747 on Tuesday. Key Chinese industrial provinces have been hit by power shortages which have threatened to shut some small aluminium smelters, and larger ones face lower prices. Aluminium is one of the most energy-intensive metals to produce. China, the world's biggest market and maker for aluminium and lead, normally hits peak electricity demand in the summer and can often face shortages, leading provincial officials to cut supplies to intensive energy users.
Japanese shipments of aluminium products fell 8.5 percent in March from a year earlier, logging the first year-on-year decline in 16 months as last month's earthquake took a toll on demand from industries across the board. Zinc, used in galvanising, closed at $2,240 from $2,260 at the close on Tuesday. Tin, untraded at the close, was bid at $31,995 while battery material lead closed at $2,498 from $2,558. Three-month nickel closed at $26,630 from $26,650.