Copper Strides High On MCX
SHUBH LAXMI
optimism in the commodity space after a bullish Chicago PMI continues
to pop the metal up. The US copper finished at 16-month highs Monday,
pushed up by lower inventories of the metal on the Shanghai futures
exchange and a weaker U.S. dollar amid light, holiday-crimped trading.
A strike at Chile`s Altonorte smelter plant owned by Xstrata lent
further support to prices, even as workers in the country`s giant
Chuquicamata copper mine run by Codelco were expected to vote against
work stoppage.
Benchmark copper for March settled up 4.40 cents, or 1.3 per cent, at
$3.3365 per pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange`s Comex
division. The contract had surged during the session to $3.3440, its
loftiest level since Aug. 25, 2008.
The Chicago Business Barometer surged to 60.0, the third month of
expansion. The production index increased 8.2 points to 65.8, the new
orders index moved slightly higher to 63.5 and the order backlogs
index rose 6.5 points to 53.0.
The Business Barometer jumped to 60.0 in December, the highest level
in four years. The production, new orders and order backlogs indices
also rose. Employment increased for the first time in more than two
years.
COMEX Copper currently trades at $3.3655, up 2.85 cents from the
previous close. MCX Copper futures opened at Rs 344.95 per kg and hit
a high of Rs 347 in no time. The counter currently trades at Rs
346.25, up Rs 1.60 or 0.46% from the previous close with 1.80% drop in
the open interest. Prices are nudging close to the Rs 350 threshold
and some selling might emerge in intraday moves around this level.