960404

Base metals

prices up on

producer buying

SHANGHAI: Shanghai copper futures ended mostly up in active trading on Thursday on buying by manufacturers at low levels, trader said.

The most active July 1996 contract ended at 25,380 yuan ($3,046) per tonne, up 30 yuan. It opened down at 25,120, hitting an intra-day low of 25,100 and a high of 25,420.

April fell 20 to 25,180, May rose 10 to 25,210, June 40 to 25,340, August 50 to 25,400 and September 30 to 25,350. Combined volume rose to 14,900 tonnes from 12,550.

Copper opened sharply lower and buying by producers and speculators pushed prices steadily up for most of the session.

"Producers' buying was responsible for today's rises, which prompted heavy speculative buying," one trader said.

Traders said successive price falls had made producers reluctant to sell but keen to buy, with April a month of heavy demand for copper. Spot copper is above 25,500 yuan.

But later-maturing contracts have met resistance at the 25,400-yuan level for two days, indicating market sentiment was still poor despite today's rises.

"Many speculators built long positions at low levels on expectations copper would rebound on the London Metal Exchange after continued sharp falls," an analyst said.

Aluminium ended with only 350 tonnes of the April 1996 contract traded at 16,400 yuan per tonne, unchanged from Wednesday's close.-Reuter