BASIC METALS-Copper falls on doubts about recovery, dollar

Copper fell on Thursday as growing investor caution about the prospects of recovery after recent comments by the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke.

The metal also fell by a firmer dollar against the euro due to the resurgence of fears about Greek debt.

The benchmark copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange (LME, for its acronym in English) was trading at $ 7105 a tonne at 1019 GMT from a close of $ 7155 on Wednesday.

Bernanke pledged Wednesday to keep interest rates low, leading to copper and other risky assets a brief boost. However, other statements about an uncertain economic recovery began to hit market confidence on Thursday.

A report on new home sales in the United States on Wednesday said the economic weakness. Sales fell more than 11 percent to a record low, suggesting the sector, at the epicenter of the financial crisis has yet to recover fully.

"The market is very nervous about what is happening in the world economy. This floor we saw recently in the trading euro / dollar could continue. There are fears that Europe will fall behind in this recovery," said Arne Rasmussen, analyst at Danske Bank.

Investors were on the lookout for economic data in the U.S. will later in the day, such as requests weekly unemployment insurance and durable goods orders, besides the second day of testimony by Bernanke.

The stronger dollar also weighed on metals, strongly encouraging them to investors who have other currencies.
The euro traded near the lowest in nine months against the dollar on Thursday after comments from Standard and Poor's, that could cut Greece's debt rating by one or two levels within a month.

Among other industrial metals, aluminum was $ 2102 a tonne against $ 2137.
Zinc traded at $ 2186 from $ 2204, while lead was at $ 2182 from $ 2215.

The tin was quoted at $ 16,950 from $ 16,975, and nickel from $ 20,450 to $ 20,470

BASIC METALS-Copper rallies to demand favorable outlook

Copper prices rose on Monday as the recent spate of upbeat economic data improved the outlook for demand, but optimism was limited by a further increase in inventories.
The price of copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange (LME, for its acronym in English) was trading at $ 6285.50 a tonne at 0942 GMT from $ 6230 closing Friday. "For aluminum and copper, should be a seasonal rebound in the fourth quarter," said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital. "But not as pronounced as in previous years. The first quarter of 2010 looks a bit better."
"Confidence is increased by the data, but confidence alone is not enough to push the market to new highs," he said. He said the fundamentals of the industry must be improved so that prices can grow even more. Last week, the market was boosted by some favorable data on the U.S. service sector and manufacturing in Germany.
But a further increase in copper stocks limited the favorable perception. Inventories in LME warehouses rose 775 tonnes to 347,375 tonnes, its highest level since mid-May.
Stocks have been rising since mid-July, reversing a trend of nearly constant falls early this year.
Trading was quiet at a time when industry experts gathered in London for the annual week of the LME, which is expected to address in depth the outlook for metal prices.
Trading volumes on the LME this year could reach the record seen in 2008 due to the high volatility of prices, said chief executive Martin Abbott LME.
Investors were also watching the preliminary data of trade in China in September, due on Wednesday to see if it holds the world's top consumer demand for base metals.
Aluminum is trading at $ 1932 from its previous price of $ 1909.
Zinc traded at $ 2070 from $ 2033.