Copper ends almost unchanged

Prices register losses for the week

Copper prices ended almost unchanged at Comex on Friday, 04 September, 2009. Prices rose marginally as inventories at LME fell and also as job report beat expectations.

At USA, copper futures for December delivery rose 0.15 cents (0.05%) to 2.8665 a pound. Earlier, prices fell by 1.1%. Copper fell 2.8% for the week. Copper ended August, 2009, higher by 7%.

On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months ended higher by $20 (0.3%) at $6,275 a metric ton. On 3 July, 2008, prices had touched an all time intra day high of $8,940.

After August, it was the eighth straight monthly gain for copper. Prices gained 23% in the second quarter. On a year to date basis, prices are higher by 90.7%.

The U.S. buys about 13% of the 17 million metric tons of copper sold annually and China buys about 20%.

Among economic reports expected on Friday, The Labor Department reported on Friday, 04 September, 2009 that U.S. unemployment rate jumped to a 26-year high of 9.7% in August as nonfarm payrolls fell by 216,000, the 20th consecutive monthly decline. The report showed that U.S. payrolls have dropped by 6.9 million to a total of 131.2 million since the recession began in December 2007. Unemployment has increased by 7.4 million during the recession to stand at 14.9 million.

In FY 2008, copper prices dropped by 54%. Prior to 2008, copper prices ended FY 2007 with a gain of mere 5.5% after a whopping 44% gain in FY 2006. The price of copper gained every year since 2002 as global economic growth boosted demand for the metal used in pipes and wires.

Among other metals traded in the LME on Friday, lead rose 1.8% to $2,380 a ton and zinc gained 0.3% to end at $1,858 a ton. Nickel rose 0.9% to end at $18,360. Aluminium rose 0.7% at $1,870 a ton.