Copper drops on outlook for credit tightening in China

Copper fell with most industrial metals amid speculation that credit conditions in China, the biggest user, will curb demand in the second half of the year. Nickel held last week’s advance as the Philippines shuttered more mines as part of as environmental crackdown.
While new lending figures released last week topped estimates, the stimulative effects of the easing of credit conditions in real estate look to be moderating, Barclays Plc said. Copper also retreated after data yesterday showed China’s home-price gains tapered off last month, as second-tier cities joined some of the nation’s largest hubs in imposing housing curbs to cool surging prices.
“Our overall read for China’s recent economic data, as it relates to copper, is one of caution,” Dane Davis, an analyst at Barclays in London, said in a report. “We see few reasons to believe that this rally has staying power.”
Copper for delivery in three months fell 0.8 percent to USD4,881 a metric ton by 11 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Prices reached $5,032 on July 13, the highest since April 29. The bourse said on Sunday that ring trading will move outside London to Chelmsford for at least a few days after a structural fault closed its building.
Metals rallied last week as investors bought commodities and equities on speculation that policy makers around the world would take steps to shore up economic growth following the U.K.’s June 23 vote to leave the European Union. MDT/Bloomberg