US MIDDAY: copper eases

In New York, the May COMEX contract eased 0.35 cent to settle at $3.6275 per lb, after dealing between $3.5975 and $3.6550. Copper found early support from optimism for more Chinese monetary easing after a report by China's official Xinhua news agency said the country may increase liquidity via open market operations and a cut in banks' required reserves to steer the economy to a soft landing.
But with copper warehouse stocks still at high levels in China, sentiment would still be fairly soft, analysts said, until concrete signs of demand emerged. "As long as stockpiles remain high in China, copper consumers will continue to stay away even if prices slip. It's not a matter of price levels now, but a matter of confidence. We need something to boost morale - be it news of the economy picking up, or of stockpiles going down," said CIFCO analyst Zhou Jie.