Copper futures for February series touches a new high of Rs 643.30 per kg

Copper prices for February series jumped to Rs 643.30 per kg on February 15 after touching a new high of Rs 649.65 during the intraday trade on the MCX. The base metal trimmed earlier gains after a gap-up open in the evening trade.

Copper prices surged to a fresh 8-year high as investors took advantage of a pullback to add to their bullish positions, betting demand will keep outpacing supply.

Hedge funds and money managers increased their net long positions in copper futures and options by 9,939 contracts to 87,671 in the week to February 9, data from the US CFTC showed last week.

In China, the world's biggest metals consumer, the Shanghai Futures Exchange is closed for the Lunar New Year and will reopen on February 18.

The US dollar traded lower at 90.37 or down 0.11 percent in the evening session.

Tapan Patel- Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities said, “Base metals complex traded higher with Copper, Nickel and Zinc prices rallied by more than 1% on Monday. Base metals traded strong on demand growth optimism and supply crunch in global tin markets. The rally in equity indices is also fueling the bullish bets in base metals over strong economic recovery.”

MCX Copper February support lies at Rs 643 and resistance at Rs 652, said Patel.

MCX iCOMDEX Base Metal Index was up 64.32 points, or 0.45 percent, at 14,300.93 at 19:19 hours IST.

In the futures market, copper for February delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 649.65 and a low of Rs 641.70 per kg on the MCX. So far in the current series, the base metal has touched a low of Rs 585 and a high of Rs 649.65.

Copper delivery for February gained Rs 2.40, or 0.37 percent, to Rs 643.55 per kg at 19:20 hours with a business turnover of 4,688 lots. The same for March contract edged higher by Rs 4.60, or 0.72 percent to Rs 642.40 per kg with a turnover of 1,363 lots.

The value of February and March’s contracts traded so far is Rs 1,689.82 crore and Rs 246.35 crore, respectively.

Kshitij Purohit, Product Manager, Currency & Commodities, CapitalVia Global Research Limited said, “We may expect a marginal decline in price where day low of Rs 645.3 may act as minor support. It is trading in a strong uptrend so “buy on dips” strategy could be followed.”

At 13:53 (GMT), the red metal price rose 0.67 percent to quote at $8,372 per tonne in London.

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