Red metal finishes near unchanged mark

Prices end mildly higher as a firmer U.S. dollar hurt commodities Red metal prices finished near unchanged mark at Comex on Monday, 13 May, 2013. Prices ended mildly higher as a firmer U.S. dollar hurt commodities. At Comex, July copper ended higher by 0.5 cents (0.15%) at $3.36 a pound on Monday. Copper for three-month delivery was little changed at $7,403 on Monday. It garnered a gain of half a percent. Investors considered the possible curtailing of monetary-policy stimulus by the Fed. The central bank's easy monetary policy tends to raise the risk of inflation, as well as put pressure on the dollar. China on Monday reported its industrial production did improve during April, but still came in slightly below trade expectations. Industrial production in China came in at up 9.3%, on an annualized basis, in April. The market expected up 9.5%. Reviewing today's economic data at Wall Street, business inventories growth was flat for a second consecutive month in March. The consensus expected business inventories to increase 0.3%. Inventory growth from manufacturers (0.0%) and merchant wholesalers (0.4%) was known prior to the release. The only new information was that retailer inventories declined 0.5% in March after increasing 0.2% in February. Retail sales increased 0.1% in April after declining 0.5% in March. The consensus expected retail sales to decline 0.3%. The April employment report showed a 0.3% decline in aggregate wages. The increase in sales was a result of consumers reducing their savings rate. That may work in the short-run, but consumers are expected eventually to increase their savings rate back to 2012 levels. Unless income growth accelerates, retail sales growth will likely decelerate and possibly contract in the long-run. In the currency market, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, rose by 0.15% on Monday. China accounts for 40% global copper consumption, Europe around 20% and the United States 8%. The global copper market showed a 70,000 tonne surplus in January this year, compared with a 60,000 tonne deficit in the same month last year, reflecting lower demand by big consumers of the metal, which is widely used in construction and power cables. Among other traded metals at LME on Monday, lead in London ended 0.4% higher at $2,017 a ton and nickel rose 0.5% to $15,370 a ton. Aluminum ended 0.2% higher at $1,870 a ton, and zinc closed higher by 0.5% at $1,870.5 a ton. At the MCX, copper prices for June delivery ended lower by Rs 2.2 (0.53%) at Rs 408.6/Kg. Prices rose to a high of Rs 411.55/Kg and fell to a low of Rs 405.08/Kg.