London copper drifts as U.S. Impasse drains risk appetite

SINGAPORE, Oct 9: London copper edged down on Wednesday as a lack of progress on the U.S. Fiscal deadlock eroded appetite for risk assets, while Chinese consumers were content to wait for lower prices.London copper is showing no sign of breaking out of the $7,000-$7,500 range it has held for the past two months, with swelling supply also dousing investor interest and quelling any urgency for consumers to stock up.'Everyone seems to be waiting to see what happens in the U.S. ... We are already seeing markets being a bit shaky,' said economist Alexandra Knight of National Australia Bank in Melbourne.'Our central forecast is that it will be resolved. GivenWe don't see it having a material impact on GDP growth, any shift in commodity prices as a result of the shutdown are likely to be short lived.'President Barack Obama refused to give ground in a fiscal confrontation with Republicans on Tuesday, saying he would negotiate on budget issues only if they agree to re-open the federal government and raise the debt limit with no conditions.Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange� eased to $7,222 a tonne by 0219 GMT, down 0.2 percent from the previous session when it finished little changed.The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 0.5 percent to 52,200 yuan ($8,500) a tonne.China markets were back for a second day following a week of holidays, improving volumes, albeit marginally. Total turnover stood at less than 2000 lots.A downwards revision to global growth by the International Monetary Fund was also fanning negative sentiment, Knight added.The IMF expects global output to expand 2.9 percent this year, down from its July estimate of 3.1 percent, making it the slowest year of growth since 2009.Annual industry week, LME week in London continues on Wednesday, with regulation of its backlogged warehousing network a hot topic.Global aluminium premiums have fallen due to 'confusion' over the London Metal Exchange's proposal announced on July 1 to overhaul its warehousing policy, Alcoa Inc Chief Financial Officer and Vice President William Oplinger said on Tuesday.Britain's financial watchdog homed in on the LME's warehousing crisis, stressing the importance of its global storage network to maintain the integrity of the market.Chile's government is reviewing the way it funds state-owned copper miner Codelco following requests from some members of parliament, the country's mining minister told Reuters on Tuesday.Base metals prices at 0218 GMTMetal������������� Last������ Change�� Pct Move YTD pct chgLME Cu����������� 7222.00����� -17.00�� -0.23���� -8.92SHFE CU FUT DEC3��� 52200����� -240���� -0.46���� -9.50HG COPPER DEC3���� 3.29������� -0.01��� -0.21���� -99.10LME Alum��������� 1864.75����� -0.25��� -0.01���� -9.96SHFE AL FUT JAN4��� 14345������� 30���� +0.21���� -6.52LME Zinc��������� 1889.75������ 4.75��� +0.25���� -8.42SHFE ZN FUT JAN4��� 14800����� -745���� -4.79���� -4.79LME Nickel������ 13887.00����� -13.00��� -0.09��� -19.05LME Lead��������� 2094.00������ 1.00���� +0.05��� -10.51SHFE PB FUT����� 14100.00����� 55.00���� +0.39���� -7.54LME Tin��������� 23550.00������ 0.00���� +0.00����� 0.64LME/Shanghai arb^��� -488PRICESThree month LME copperMost active ShFE copperThree month LME aluminiumMost active ShFE aluminiumThree month LME zincMost active ShFE zincThree month LME leadMost active ShFE leadThree month LME nickelThree month LME tin(AGENCIES)