(07/11) METALS-Copper ends down, recoups early losses from data

November 07, 2009

* Copper inventories jump, demand worries intensify

* U.S. employers cut more-than-expected 190,000 jobs
Copper prices ended down but away from their lowest levels Friday, after an initial jolt to the downside sparked by grim U.S. employment figures faded and upon closer inspection of the data offered a few glimmers of hope for the world's largest economy.

Copper for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division ended 0.45 cent easier at $2.9525 a lb, pulling back up from the low of its $2.9250 to $3.0045 session range.
On the London Metal Exchange copper for three-month delivery shed $40 to close at $6,490 a tonne, compared with a session low of $6,440.50.
Another optimistic glimmer stemmed from revisions to the August and September data that showed 91,000 fewer jobs were lost that previously reported.

"With the unemployment report, it's really surprising to see what the markets are doing today. It's really based off the revisions of the previous months ... that's what is keeping the stock markets afloat today," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist with Chicago-based Lind-Waldock.
Copper prices have more than doubled this year, driven by strong investment interest, a weak dollar and record imports from China, the world's largest industrial metals consumer.
LME copper stocks continue to rise, however, indicating demand has yet to recover outside China. Latest data showed stocks rose 5,750 tonnes to total 385,575 -- their highest since early May.

Copper stocks in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1 percent from a week earlier to 104,275 tonnes, the highest since late April, 2004.