Copper ends in mixed mode

Prices rise at Comex but drop at LME

Copper prices ended higher on Friday, 08 October at Comex. Prices rose riding on the back of weak dollar. But prices dropped at LME.



At USA, copper futures for December delivery ended higher by 9 cents (2.6%) at $3.77 a pound on Friday. For September, copper rose 8.3%. That follows 1.5% gains in August and 12% in July. For the third quarter, copper ended higher by 24%. Prices have increased by 32% in the past one year.

On Friday, at LME, copper for delivery in three months ended lower by $20 (0.3%) at $8,080. On 3 July, 2008, prices had touched an all time intra day high of $8,940. Copper ended FY 2009 higher by 140%.

In the currency market on Friday, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies fell by almost 0.2%.

The Labor Department in US reported on Friday, 08 October 2010 that the U.S. economy lost 95,000 nonfarm jobs in September 2010 as local and state governments shed positions at a faster rate than the private sector was adding.

The drop of 95,000 was much wider than the 8,000 decline expected by market and the 57,000 jobs lost in August. The nation's unemployment rate remained steady at 9.6% as fewer new workers joined the labor market than in the previous month.

The unexpected number in the report was due to the weakness in state and local governments. The government sector lost 159,000 jobs including 77,000 temporary Census workers. The report detailed that private-sector payrolls rose by 64,000 in September. Private payrolls increased a revised 93,000 in August, up from the 67,000 initially estimated.

Copper ended substantially higher last year on expectations of revived global economic growth along with a decline in the dollar. The dollar index had dropped almost 4.2% last year. The metal was also pushed higher by record first-half imports to China, the world's largest user.

Among other metals traded in the LME on Friday, lead ended 0.5% higher at $2,220 a ton and zinc ended 0.3% lower at $2,225 a ton. Nickel gained 0.3% to end at $23,926. Aluminum gained 0.8% to end at $2,342 a ton.