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LONDON: Copper rose on Tuesday as another fall in inventories indicated demand could be picking up, but gains were limited as a firm dollar deterred holders of other currencies from buying metals.
Benchmark copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange closed at $7,510 a tonne in official rings from $7,470 on Monday. Copper bounced from a session low of $7,387, as the dollar pared some of its gains against a major currency basket.
Recent declines in LME copper stocks have hinted demand could be recovering outside China, with inventories last falling 2,700 tonnes to 538,875 tonnes. Stocks are at their lowest since late January, falling from a peak in February that was the highest since October 2003.
A recent trend of rising cancelled warrants on copper stocks also pointed to a pick-up in demand. Metal tagged for delivery from LME warehouses stood at 26,725 tonnes on Monday, up from 3,625 tonnes on Feb. 8.
Focus is now shifting to trade data due on Thursday from China, the world's biggest metals consumer.
Among other metals, aluminium closed at $2,258 versus $2,231. LME stocks of the metal, used in transport and packaging, fell 5,925 tonnes to 4.5 million tonnes, their lowest level since July.
Aluminium cancelled warrants stood at 294,075 tonnes on Monday against 256,550 tonnes on Feb. 8. Zinc was at $2,375 a tonne from $2,370, while battery material lead was last quoted at $2,240/2,245 from $2,257.50. Tin was at $17,550 from $17,300 a tonne and steel making ingredient nickel was at $22,250 from $22,300. Stocks of nickel, zinc, lead and tin also fell on Monday. -Reuters
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