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Copper Drops as Dimming U.S. Consumer Outlook May Curb Demand

[Minor metal] Domestic Refined Selenium Prices Advance

LONDON, Oct. 28 -- Copper prices fell after a report showed U.S. consumer sentiment slipping, stoking concern that a stalling economic recovery may limit demand for the metal.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The index of consumer confidence slid to 47.7 in October from 53.4 last month, the Conference Board, a business-backed research group, reported today. Economists forecast an increase to 53.5, the median of 74 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Copper prices have more than doubled this year on speculation that reviving economic growth will spur consumption.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;The confidence data was pretty disappointing,&quot; said Donald Selkin, National Securities Corp.'s chief market strategist in New York. &quot;I'm negative on copper at these higher prices. Copper looks expensive relative to the demand levels.&quot;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Copper futures for December delivery fell 1.2 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $2.999 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex unit. The metal touched $3.069 yesterday, the highest since Sept. 30, 2008.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; World use of the metal dropped 1.3 percent from a year earlier in the first seven months of 2009, the International Copper Study Group said Oct. 20 in a report.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Demand is still absent, there is no doubt,&quot; said Robin Bhar, an analyst in Credit Agricole SA's Calyon unit in London.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Inventories Swell 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Stockpiles of copper tallied by the London Metal Exchange rose for a sixth day, gaining 0.5 percent to 370,650 metric tons. Including those tracked by exchanges in New York and Shanghai, inventories reached 520,175 tons, the highest since April 21.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Growth in demand from China, the world's largest copper user, may slow as the government starts to rein in credit expansion, while imports and record production swell supplies, an executive at Chinalco Luoyang Copper Co. said today.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;China has shown strong growth in its copper demand since last October,&quot; said Chen Hongzhou, a marketing manager at Chinalco Luoyang, a unit of Aluminum Corp. of China. &quot;The momentum is likely to slow down as the government starts to rein in credit growth.&quot;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Surging demand from the Asian country has helped fuel copper's rally this year. Copper shipments into China more than doubled in the year's first nine months, to 2.58 million tons, customs figures show.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On the LME, copper for three-month delivery slipped $30, or 0.5 percent, to $6,580 a ton ($2.98 a pound). Among other LME metals for three-month delivery, aluminum, lead and zinc fell. Tin rose and nickel was unchanged.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (Source: Bloomberg)
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