Copper Prices Turn Positive On Stronger Empl Repor Copper is on the way up. China reported slow demand in Feb, there was simple reason for it. See the end of the article. Highlights are mine.
From Wall Street Journal:
NEW YORK--Copper futures shook off overnight losses Friday, and moved into positive territory, after a monthly U.S. employment report exceeded expectations.
The most actively traded contract, for May delivery, was recently trading up 0.25 cents, or 0.1%, at $3.5230 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The U.S. economy added 236,000 new jobs in February, beating forecasts of a 160,000 increase. The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey, fell to 7.7% from 7.9% in January.
https://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130308-705315.html
Copper traders closely follow employment data for clues about future demand. Copper is widely used in everyday goods like phones, cars and plumbing, and demand for such products tends to increase when people have more disposable income.
Copper prices shot higher on the report, cutting overnight losses and moving into positive territory.
Copper futures had declined overnight, after a monthly report showed China's copper imports fell sharply in February. Imports of copper and copper products slumped 15.1% from a month earlier to 298,102 metric tons.
"This was a period disrupted by the timing of the Chinese New Year holiday," said Leon Westgate, a metals strategist with Standard Bank, in a note.
-Write to Tatyana Shumsky at tatyana.shumsky@dowjones.com