India copper steady, nickel weakens on Cuba news

India copper steady, nickel weakens on Cuba news
Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:13pm IST

MUMBAI, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Indian copper futures traded steady on
Wednesday, as a pick-up in crude oil prices supported the red metal, but
a fall in Chinese copper imports weighed on sentiment.

At 5.42 p.m., the benchmark November copper MCCX8 on the Multi Commodity
Exchange of India (MCX) was down 0.28 percent at 307.65 rupees per kg.

"Crude is supporting most commodities but there has been an unexpected
fall in Chinese copper imports and also the inventories have risen.
These factors are keeping copper steady," said Navneet Damani, an
analyst with Anand Rathi Commodities.

Oil rose on Wednesday following a surprise decision by OPEC to cut
production, after slowing demand from the United States and other large
consumers sent prices down 30 percent over the past two months. [O/R]

Higher oil prices weaken the dollar, making commodities denominated in
the U.S. unit less expensive for holders of other currencies.

However, an unexpected fall in China's imports of unwrought copper and
semi-finished copper products kept a lid on gains, analysts said.

China, the world's largest consumer, imported 178,047 tonnes of
unwrought copper, including anode, refined alloy and semi-finished
copper products in August, from 186,136 tonnes in July. See [nHKG259742]

Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by London Metal Exchange,
rose 1,725 tonnes to 203,850 tonnes on Wednesday, capping gains.

Buying in November copper was recommended at dips to 305 rupees with a
stop loss of 302 rupees and a target of 311.5-313 rupees, said Anand
Rathi's Damani.

In India, demand for copper is expected to nearly halve to 8-9 percent
this fiscal year as a slowing economy and higher interest rates drag.
See[nDEL315337]

NICKEL

Nickel futures fell on Wednesday after Cuba, the largest exporter of
nickel, said Hurricane Ike did not cause any damage to its nickel mines
and refineries and it expected to restart production in a few days.

At 5.42 p.m., the benchmark September nickel MNKU8 was down 0.79 percent
at 837.1 rupees.

LEAD,ZINC

Lead and zinc futures consolidated after losses in the previous session,
analysts said.

Lead inventories on the LME on Wednesday fell 850 tonnes to 75,925
tonnes and zinc inventories were down 225 tonnes to 159,500 tonnes.

At 5.50 p.m., the benchmark lead for September delivery MLDU8 on the MCX
was up 0.06 percent at 80.95 rupees per kg. September zinc MZIU8 on the
MCX was up 0.39 percent at 77.75 rupees a kg . (Reporting by Nandita
Bose; Editing by Sunil Nair)

http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINBOM34716420080910?sp=true