LIVE FUTURES REPORT 08/08: Comex copper price rise fizzles out

Comex copper prices consolidated on the morning of Tuesday August 8 in the USA amid a lack of new drivers during what is typically a quiet trading period.

Copper for September delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped 0.55 cents or 0.2% lower to $2.9015 per lb.

“In the very short term, our bias has turned cautiously bullish. Copper’s strong advance from the May low has registered a series of higher highs and higher lows but since July there have been no major pullbacks,” Metal Bulletin analyst Andy Farida said. “So the bullish momentum may have been excessive and could very soon run out of energy.”

In today’s data, although China’s unwrought copper and copper-fabricated products import volumes rose 8.3% year on year in July following better-than-expected demand, volumes for the first seven months of 2017 were down 15% from a year previously.

China imported 390,000 tonnes of unwrought copper and copper fabricated products last month, flat compared with June but 8.3% higher than volumes in July 2016, according to preliminary Chinese customs data on Tuesday August 8.

“Demand from the property sector was largely expected to cool due to China’s credit tightening policies [implemented] since the fourth quarter of last year; however, data from the first half [of the year] remains positive, which means that will at least support demand for another half year because of the lag in usage,” a Shanghai-based analyst said.

Additionally, Comex gold for December settlement dipped by $3.50 or 0.3% to $1,268.20 per oz. Trading has ranged very narrowly from $1,262.70 to $1,271 so far.

Currency moves and data releases

• The dollar index has weakened this morning – it was recently down 0.14% at 93.32. This comes after the index had rebounded to 93.765 on August 4 following the release of strong US jobs data.
• In other commodities, the Texas light sweet crude oil spot price was down 0.18% at $49.30 per barrel.
• In Chinese data, exports rose 7.2% in July from a year earlier while imports grew 11%, both well below analysts’ forecasts. Meanwhile, the country’s trade balance in yuan-denominated figures reached 321 billion in July, surpassing an expected reading of 293.5 billion yuan
• In the USA, the NFIB small business index for July at 105.2 was above the forecast of 103.6.

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