BASE METALS AND BULLIONS

FRIDAY MAY 16 TH

Copper prices edges higher in line with the majority of the other Base metals as ongoing supply fears outweighed concerns over weakness in chinese demand as prices hold over $8000 per tonne.
Supply from major suppliers Chille and Peru have been disrupted this year by strike action by miners.Stock pile of the red metal monitored by the LME have dipped by more than a third from the beginning of this year.

Chinese demand has also been seen to soften, as high prices discourage buying. Copper users are running down their existing stocks of the red metal rather than buying fresh supplies at today's elevated prices




Analysts are also concerned that U.S. demand will be soft this year as the economy, and particularly the housebuilding sector, continues to languish. The construction industry is a major consumer of copper for pipes and wiring


Among other metals traded on the LME, tin bucked the upward trend to slip lower, as investors took profits after recent gains. The grey metal has hit a series of record highs this year amid fears supply from major producers China and Indonesia is set to fall.
Tin was trading at $25,200 against $25,300.
Elsewhere, lead rose to $2,300 per tonne from $2,276 per tonne at the close Wednesday, while zinc was trading at $2,325 against $2,318.
Aluminium was higher at $3,028 per tonne against $3,011, and nickel climbed to $26,400 from $26,310


PRECIOUS METALS: NY Gold Seen Up $15, Silver Up 32 Cents


In overnight activity, gold prices traded on the spot market were steady in Europe, and market participants said the metal could repeat Thursday's move higher when the U.S. opens. Gold is likely to attract more technical buying when the U.S. enters the market, with buying on dips seen helping push the metal above $888 a troy ounce in the coming sessions, said a London trader. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is up to $1.5479 from $1.5441 late Thursday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the June S&P 500 futures are up 2.70 points to 1,427.30. June crude is up $2.59 to $126.71 in overnight activity.

In New York Thursday, gold closed higher with the help of short covering and technical strength, traders and analysts said. June gold rose $13.50 to $880. July silver rose 7.2 cents to $16.685.