Copper Declines as Chinese Manufacturing May Contract

Copper declined to the lowest in almost two weeks after a preliminary report showed manufacturing in China, the biggest consumer, may contract for a fifth month, eroding demand prospects.

Market News:

Metals News:

Metal Prices:

-- Copper fell 0.9 percent to $8,380 a metric ton by 7:53
a.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Relative Strength Index 47.
-- Aluminum declined 0.3 percent to $2,202 a ton. RSI 43.
-- Zinc was down 0.1 percent to $2,018.50 a ton. RSI 43.
-- Lead fell 0.9 percent to $2,025 a ton. RSI 40.
-- Nickel declined 0.7 percent to $18,665 a ton. RSI 37.
-- Tin dropped 1.5 percent to $22,660 a ton. RSI 37.


Other Markets:
                     Last           % Change       % YTD
U.S. Dollar Index   79.493           -0.2           -0.9
Crude oil           $106.51          -0.7            7.8
Gold                $1,650.58         0.0            5.6
MSCI World Index    1,314.74          0.2           11.2


Economic events:
                                    Forecast    Prior     Time
                                                        (London)
Germany Manufacturing PMI     MAR       51.0     50.2      8:30
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims   MAR 17    350K     351K     12:30
U.S. House Price Index        JAN       0.3%     0.7%     14:00
U.S. Leading Indicators       FEB       0.6%     0.4%     14:00
Euro-Zone Consumer Confidence MAR      -19.8    -20.3     15:00





To contact the reporter on this story:
Maria Kolesnikova in London at 
mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Claudia Carpenter at 
ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net