US copper rises on surprising U.S. GDP growth
April 30th, 2008 | by admin |NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - U.S. copper futures pushed higher onWednesday following a larger-than-forecast gain in U.S. economic growth lastquarter, traders said.
Continued work stoppages at three of Chilean miner Codelco’s copper mineskept support under prices, along with expectations that the Federal Reservewill trim key U.S. interest rates this afternoon.
NOTE: For detailed report, click on [MET/L].
* Newly-active July copper HGK8 was up 1.45 cents at $3.8955 per lb onthe COMEX metals division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The rangespanned $3.8455 and $3.9090.
* COMEX estimated 10:00 a.m. EDT copper volume at 5,595 lots. Tuesday’sfinal tally came to 19,862 contracts.
* Open interest for copper futures fell 781 lots to 105,303 lots by theclose of April 298.
* On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months MCU3edged down to $8,520 per tonne from Tuesday’s $8,540 a tonne finish.
* Copper gained after reports showed U.S. gross domestic product grew by0.6 percent in the first quarter, a slightly stronger pace than the 0.2 percentforecast by economists.
* Because inventory building helped lift GDP, tempering a steadilydeteriorating housing sector a slower pace of consumer spending copper’s risewas limited. [nN29322975]
