(Updates with prices) By Zandi Shabalala LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - Copper held steady near atwo-year high on Monday, under pressure as new cases of thenovel coronavirus threatened to stall any revival in the globaleconomy and in metals demand.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange wasup 0.1% to $6,410.50 by 1750 GMT. A week ago the metal touched apeak of $6,633 a tonne, the highest since 2018, up from a low of$4,371 in March. A rebound in the economy of top metals consumer China andsupply disruptions, mainly in the world's main producing regionSouth America, has boosted prices. But a surge in cases of the coronavirus has thrown intodoubt any quick rebound in the global economy, hitting copper,which is also used as a bellwether for economichealth. "Market prices are taking a breather here and it's too earlyto say if it's a trend reversal or a breather before prices movefurther," Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said.
SPREAD: Large holdings of copper warrants havefuelled concern about nearby supplies on the LME market.
This can be seen in the premium for the cash over thethree-month contract which was last at $11.30 a tonne, itshighest May 2019. . Also indicating tightness on the LME market are cancelledcopper warrants - metal earmarked for delivery - at 40% of totalstocks of 195,825 tonnes .
COPPER INVENTORIES: Copper stocks in LME-approved warehouses fell to a six-month low at 157,350 tonnes.Meanwhile, Shangai Futures Exchange inventories climbed 59% to 158,647 tonnes in three weeks by Friday, theirhighest since May 22. OTHER PRICES: LME aluminium rose 0.1% to $1,663 atonne, zinc was up 0.6% to $2,196, lead rose0.8% to $1,829, tin gained 0.3% to $17,375 while nickel fell 0.3% to $13,180. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; additional Reporting by MaiNguyen; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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