Farallon Resources Ltd. (fka FRLIF)

[the cork]

Copper currently at 333.97, Slumps
to Seven-Week Low on Concern China Demand Slowing
By Glenys Sim

May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Copper dropped to a seven-week low after China ordered banks to set aside more deposits as reserves for the third time this year, fueling concern that the lending curbs may damp demand in the world’s biggest metals consumer.

July-delivery material on the Comex in New York fell 1.5 percent to $3.305 a pound, the lowest price since March 15, and traded at $3.3135 at 6:02 p.m. in Singapore. Markets in London and Shanghai are closed today.

“The commodities that are relating to Chinese growth, I would avoid for the time being,” said investor Marc Faber, the publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report. “The symptoms of a major bubble are all there.”

Futures also declined after Shanghai copper stockpiles increased 0.8 percent to 189,441 tons last week, the highest level since at least 2003, and as the dollar advanced 0.4 percent against a basket of six currencies, reducing the appeal of commodities as alternative investments.

The Dollar Index rose as much as 0.5 percent, its first gain in three days, on concern the 110 billion euro ($146 billion) rescue package for Greece will fail to win support from some of the region’s governments. EU leaders are scheduled to meet on May 7 to discuss the timeline of parliamentary approval.

The current rescue plan for Greece is only “postponing the problem” and the country needs to write off some of its debt, Faber said in a Bloomberg Television interview today. “If you look at Greece like a corporation, it’s bust.”


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aZrlINzJErhY