SINGAPORE, Nov 27: London copper was little changed on Wednesday as markets lost direction ahead of Thanksgiving holidays in the United States, but prices were on track for their biggest monthly fall since June on expectations of improving supply.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was at $7,069 a tonne by 0124 GMT, after dropping half a percent to $7,065 in the previous session. It was on track for a 2.5 percent drop in November.
* The most-traded February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange eased 0.18 percent to 50,680 yuan ($8,300) a tonne.
* Permits for future U.S. Home construction hit a near 5-1/2 year-high in October and prices for single-family homes notched big gains in September, suggesting a run-up in mortgage interest rates has not derailed the housing recovery.
* Debate over when the Federal Reserve could trim its bond purchases monopolized market talk this year, but as a new Fed chief takes charge, more participants believe the key theme to emphasize for 2014 is low rates for longer.
* Teck Resources Ltd, Newmont Mining Corp, private equity firm Blackstone Group LP and a firm led by the former head of Barrick Gold are working together on a bid for Glencore Xstrata’s Las Bambas copper mine in Peru, according to several people familiar with the matter.
* The global market for refined copper swung into a 21,000 tonne surplus in August, rising after three straight months of a shortfall mostly due to higher production, data from the International Copper Study Group showed.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian share markets nudged into the red on Wednesday following an uninspiring performance by Wall Street, while a dip in the dollar against the yen prompted profit-taking on Japanese stocks.
(AGENCIES)
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