Monday 21st 03.36 GMT
London copper held near a three-week low on Monday as worries over the health of China's property sector and a build up in the country's stocks of the metal highlighted an expected market surplus in the second half.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchangewas at $6,983.75 a tonne by 0235 GMT, just shy of this month's low of $6,960 hit in the previous session. LME copper fell 2.4 percent last week, its biggest weekly fall since mid-March.
"Recent Chinese data came in a little above market expectations, but some of the real estate market indicators are a little on the soft side," said analyst James Glenn of National Australia Bank (NAB) in Melbourne.
"That's significant to the metals complex, not just copper but also aluminium and zinc ... We're also generally expecting to see some more copper supply coming on line in the latter half of this year so that should help loosen the market," he added.
NAB expects copper prices to average $6,950 a tonne in the September quarter.
London copper stocks plunged by 75 percent to near six-year lows in June, stoking supply worries in the market. But stock levels have stabilised since then, while Comex copper stocks have climbed to eight-month peaks.
Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 28.9 percent last week.
The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchangefell 1 percent to 49,440 yuan
($8,000), after earlier hitting a near one-month low.
Improving supply from mines has been feeding the uptrend in exchange stocks. Production at Collahuasi, one of the world's largest copper mines, will be slightly higher in 2014 than last year, the company's chief executive Jorge Gomez said on Friday.
Worries over falling property prices in China, the world's top copper consumer, also continue to taint the demand outlook for the metal.
Some of the wealthiest Chinese are paring their property investments and turning to private equity or overseas holiday homes, a sign of fading hopes that the once red-hot market can bounce back any time soon.
A survey showing U.S. consumer sentiment dipped in early July and an index of consumer expectations weakened for a third straight month also weighed on copper prices.
Investors are now eyeing flash manufacturing sector readings for China, Europe and the United States for trading cues.
The head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Friday that financial markets were "perhaps too upbeat" because high unemployment and high debt in Europe could drag down investment and hurt future growth prospects.
Copper speculators boosted net long position by 10,626 contracts to 48,994 in week to July 15, the highest since at least 2006, according to the latest figures from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
London copper held near a three-week low on Monday as worries over the health of China's property sector and a build up in the country's stocks of the metal highlighted an expected market surplus in the second half.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
"Recent Chinese data came in a little above market expectations, but some of the real estate market indicators are a little on the soft side," said analyst James Glenn of National Australia Bank (NAB) in Melbourne.
"That's significant to the metals complex, not just copper but also aluminium and zinc ... We're also generally expecting to see some more copper supply coming on line in the latter half of this year so that should help loosen the market," he added.
NAB expects copper prices to average $6,950 a tonne in the September quarter.
London copper stocks plunged by 75 percent to near six-year lows in June, stoking supply worries in the market. But stock levels have stabilised since then, while Comex copper stocks have climbed to eight-month peaks
Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 28.9 percent last week.
The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange
($8,000), after earlier hitting a near one-month low.
Improving supply from mines has been feeding the uptrend in exchange stocks. Production at Collahuasi, one of the world's largest copper mines, will be slightly higher in 2014 than last year, the company's chief executive Jorge Gomez said on Friday.
Worries over falling property prices in China, the world's top copper consumer, also continue to taint the demand outlook for the metal.
Some of the wealthiest Chinese are paring their property investments and turning to private equity or overseas holiday homes, a sign of fading hopes that the once red-hot market can bounce back any time soon.
A survey showing U.S. consumer sentiment dipped in early July and an index of consumer expectations weakened for a third straight month also weighed on copper prices.
Investors are now eyeing flash manufacturing sector readings for China, Europe and the United States for trading cues.
The head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Friday that financial markets were "perhaps too upbeat" because high unemployment and high debt in Europe could drag down investment and hurt future growth prospects.
Copper speculators boosted net long position by 10,626 contracts to 48,994 in week to July 15, the highest since at least 2006, according to the latest figures from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
