BEIJING, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Base metals prices rose on
Tuesday, with London copper climbing for a second day and
crossing the $6,000-a-tonne mark as the dollar slipped, while
the market awaited U.S.-China trade talks in Washington.
Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange have fallen by 18
percent from a four-year high touched on June 7 amid concerns a
trade row between the United States and China, which have
slapped billions of dollars in tariffs on each other's goods,
will hit demand for industrial metals.
But Jefferies analyst Timothy Ward wrote in a note that the
"pendulum may have swung too far too fast."
"Sentiment and positioning have shifted so strongly from
these macro forces that the underlying copper story may have
been thrown out with the bath water," he said, adding that the
last time speculative positioning had so many shorts and so few
longs, copper rallied 19 percent over the next three months.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the LME rose as
much as 0.9 percent to a one-week high of $6,046.50 a tonne and
was trading up 0.7 percent at $6,037 a tonne by 0705 GMT.
* SHFE COPPER: The most-traded October copper contract on
the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up 1.3 percent to
48,700 yuan ($7,084.67) a tonne after hitting its highest since
Aug. 15.
* USD: The dollar index against a basket of six other
currencies fell 0.3 percent to 95.583 after touching 95.440, its
lowest level since Aug. 9. A weaker greenback makes metals
cheaper for holders of other currencies and can support prices.
* VEDANTA: India's environment court said on Monday an
independent judicial committee would decide in about six weeks
whether to allow Vedanta Ltd to reopen its copper
smelter, which was shut by the southern state of Tamil Nadu on
environmental grounds.
* OTHER METALS: Zinc was the star performer, closing up 3.1
percent in Shanghai after breaking through its 7-day
moving average, and added 2.2 percent in London.
Shanghai aluminium jumped 2 percent and nickel
rose 1.2 percent, while tin was the sole laggard,
losing 0.3 percent.
