Farallon Resources Ltd. (fka FRLIF)

[the cork]

Zinc falls, Copper Advances in New York, Erasing Drop, as Stockpiles Keep Shrinking
By Anna Stablum - Jul 7, 2010

Copper rose in New York, erasing a drop, as the dollar pared a climb and shrinking stockpiles of metal helped to support prices.

The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, gained 0.1 percent, trimming an advance. Stockpiles tracked by the London Metal Exchange dropped for a 14th day to the lowest level since Nov. 30, and bookings to remove copper from warehouses increased for a second day.

“With little economic data to go on yet again, base metals are still looking to the equity and FX markets for direction,” Leon Westgate, a Standard Bank Plc analyst in London, said in a report. “Falling LME stocks over the balance of 2010 would be an unusual event given recent history and something we would regard as very bullish for prices, particularly in early 2011.”

Futures for September delivery rose 2.5 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $2.996 a pound at 9:09 a.m. on the Comex in New York, erasing a drop of as much as 0.9 percent. Copper for delivery in three months added 0.2 percent to $6,620 a metric ton on the LME.

Gains by the dollar make metals priced in the U.S. currency more expensive in terms of other monies. The dollar index has climbed 8.1 percent this year, contributing to LME copper’s 10 percent slide.

LME copper inventories dropped to 439,350 tons, the lowest level since Nov. 30, and are down 13 percent so far in 2010. A decline in stocks for the full year would be the first since 2004.

Bookings to remove copper from LME warehouses rose 2.5 percent to 35,075 tons, just 350 tons below the level on July 1, which was the highest in almost four months.

Aluminum for three-month delivery on the LME slipped 0.1 percent to $1,993 a ton, nickel rose 1.1 percent to $19,100 a ton and zinc fell 0.2 percent to $1,846 a ton. Tin and lead were unchanged at $17,600 a ton and $1,780 a ton, respectively.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-07/copper-advances-in-new-york-erasing-drop-as-stockpiles-keep-shrinking.html