NEW YORK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - U.S. copper futures remained
moderately lower into the close on Thursday, falling on
technical selling and a huge inventory rise, but the downside
was buffered by better-than-forecast U.S. economic data and a
stronger euro against the dollar, analysts said.
For detailed report on global copper markets, click on
[MET/L]
* Copper for December delivery HGZ9 lost 3.60 cents, down
1.20 percent, to finish at $2.9570 a lb on the New York
Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division.
* Range ran from $2.9470 to $2.9975.
* COMEX estimated final futures volume at 23,157 lots.
* Copper encountered technical sales after failing to
breach the psychological barrier of $3.00 per lb - traders.
* Some observers said red metal prices went too far, too
fast - traders.
* Market talk of targets at $4.00 a lb began spreading
earlier this week, prompting some players to unload before
prices became overbought, said Frank McGhee, head precious
metals trader at Integrated Brokerage Services in Chicago.
* "Equities were higher and the dollar was lower. And
metals have been sluggish all day. It must have been technical
selling after their recent gains," said Edward Meir, commodity
analyst at MF Global.
* U.S. stocks jumped after a rise in U.S. business
productivity and a drop in jobless claims lifted investor
confidence. [.N]
* Copper's downside was limited by the latest U.S.
government data, which came in better than analysts expected -
traders.
* U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless insurance fell
more than expected last week to a 10-month low, pointing to
gradual improvement in the labor market. Story: [ID:nN0436092]
Table: [ID:nOAT004342]
* U.S. non-farm productivity in the third quarter rose at
its fastest pace in six years as companies squeezed more output
from a smaller pool of labor and cut costs to deal with a slump
in demand. Story: [ID:nN0436475] Table: [ID:nOAT004342]
* Earlier, copper traders ignored the dollar's losses to
the euro after both the Federal Reserve and the European
Central Bank kept interest rates at record lows, but the Fed
was viewed as the laggard when it comes to increasing rates.
[USD/]
* The ECB kept interest rates at a record low 1.0 percent,
but said the latest evidence suggests a pick-up in European
activity in the second half of this year. [ID:nL5152809]
* Copper traders also await October U.S. employment data
due Friday, which is expected to show a higher unemployment
rate, but a slowing rate of decline in payrolls. Analysts
polled by Reuters forecast 175,000 fewer jobs from a September
decline of 263,000 payrolls.
* A huge addition to London Metal Exchange warehouse stocks
hurt copper prices overnight - traders.
* LME warehouse stocks jumped 5,775 tonnes to 379,825
tonnes on Thursday. [LME-STOCKS]
* COMEX copper warehouse stocks went up by 1,169 short tons
on Wednesday to 63,592 short tons. [CMWSU]
* In London, LME three-month copper MCU3 closed the
Thursday kerb at $6,531, down from $6,575 a tonne at
Wednesday's close.
(Reporting by Carole Vaporean; Editing by Walter Bagley)
