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Copper slips from one-month peak, BHP results eyed

SINGAPORE - London copper eased on Wednesday from a one-month high that was hit in the previous session as jittery investors turned defensive ahead of results from BHP Billiton Ltd that are expected to cast fresh light on slowing growth in top metals consumer China.

BHP Billiton has already foreshadowed job cuts as slowing growth eats into demand for iron ore, coal and copper, and the miner may announce that it has put three major projects on hold when it reports later in the session.

The company is expected to register its first annual profit decline in three years in the face of rising costs and falling commodities prices, although some analysts think much of the bad news may already be priced in.

“Everyone is watching to see what BHP does, but at the end of the day, it’s either going to be better than expected or in line, because everyone has marked their books down expecting the worst,” said Jonathan Barratt, chief executive of Barratt’s Bulletin, a Sydney-based commodity research firm. “It may be a fall in profit - but it’s still profit. Any cut in project funding could further erode the copper supply pipeline ... We are seeing copper prices find a floor and recover in the fourth quarter,” he added

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had slipped 0.47 percent to $7,563 per tonne by 0320 GMT, reversing modest gains seen in the previous session when prices hit the highest since July 20 at $7,632 per tonne.

Prices have recovered by nearly 5 percent from the year’s low touched in June, but are still sitting in negative territory for the year.

The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed 0.58 percent to 55,190 yuan ($8,700) per tonne.

Global demand for copper is widely expected to outstrip supply this year on a lack of new major copper projects and mine disruptions.

The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said on Tuesday that the global market for refined copper was in a 405,000-tonne deficit from January to May this year, sharply bigger than a 98,000-tonne deficit in the same period of 2011.

Asian shares fell after a recent rally, but the euro held near a seven-week high on Wednesday on views the European Central Bank will act to rein in surging euro zone borrowing costs and policymakers and ease the official debt burden on Greece.

Tuesday’s rally in metals, on the back of a stronger euro and hopes for a euro zone resolution, may prove short-lived, said commodities broker Sucden.