Shanghai copper steady, investors eye US data

KUALA LUMPUR: Shanghai copper was steady on Tuesday, after dropping more than 1 percent in the previous session in its biggest one-day decline in a week, while investors kept an eye on US data for clues on the health of the world's largest economy.

The unresolved euro zone debt crisis and news that workers at Freeport's Grasberg mine in Indonesia -- the world's second-biggest copper mine -- will continue a gradual return to work this week at the end of a three-month strike, however, weighed on prices.

"We've been very concerned about the global economy for the past six to seven months," said Tan Teng Boo, who helps manage about $350 million at Capital Dynamics Sdn. in Kuala Lumpur.

"These concerns have not disappeared."

The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 0.04 percent to 55,180 yuan ($8,700) a tonne by 0548 GMT. Prices have tumbled 23 percent so far this year, after gaining in the last two years.

The London Metal Exchange was closed on Tuesday in lieu of Christmas day.

At a time when the euro zone is still in the throes of a festering financial crisis, data out of the United States held out some hope for investors.

New orders for US durable goods soared in November and new home sales hit a seven-month high, although consumer spending was tepid and a gauge of business investment fell for a second straight month, data on Friday showed.

Investors will be looking for more positive signs from US data this week, including the S&P Case-Shiller house price index for October and US consumer confidence for December.

Japan's exports of copper cathode to China doubled in November from a year earlier, pushing it total exports of refined copper during the month by up 34 percent, data from the Ministry of Finance showed.

Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 3.4 percent on Dec. 23 from a week earlier, the exchange said on Friday.

Profits at China's industrial companies rose 24.4 percent in the first 11 months of 2011 from a year ago to 4.66 trillion yuan ($735.43 billion), slowing from 25.3 percent in the first 10 months of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

In other markets, Asian shares eased as investors squared positions in thin volume before US markets reopen after a long weekend and investors see fresh data that could offer clues about prospects for the world's largest economy.