[Ni] CBI Morning Review - 2009/7/20 Nickel Market

LONDON, July 20&nbsp;-- Copper futures rose, capping the biggest weekly gain in four months, as U.S. construction of single-family homes jumped by the most since 2004.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; U.S. housing starts rose 3.6 percent in June from May to an annual rate of 582,000, the highest level since November, the Commerce Department reported today. The increase followed a 17 percent jump in May for the first back-to-back gains since February 2008. Copper has surged 72 percent this year on speculation that the global recession is easing.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Copper is popping higher after the housing report,&quot; said Matthew Zeman, a trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. &quot;Housing is really important for this market. With a turn in housing comes increased consumer spending and higher demand for base metals.&quot; Builders are the biggest users of copper.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Copper futures for September jumped 3.35 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $2.423 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. This week, the metal gained 9.6 percent, the most since early March.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Work began on single-family homes at an annual rate of 470,000 units last month, up 14 percent from May, or the sharpest increase since an 18 percent surge in December 2004.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months advanced $50, or 1 percent, to $5,310 a metric ton ($2.41 a pound). The price reached a record $8,940 on July 2, 2008.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (Source: Bloomberg)