950817

Copper mostly

declines in

Shanghai

SHANGHAI: Shanghai copper futures closed mostly down on profit-taking, having soared on Wednesday.

Contracts opened higher on overnight gains on the London Metal Exchange, but after prices failed to rise sharply many selling orders emerged in late trade, traders said.

"This was quite normal," said one. "The market needs to consolidate a little after rising sharply on Wednesday."

March 1996 contract was the heaviest loser today after rising 610 yuan on Wednesday. It opened higher at 30,700 yuan ($3,695) per tonne and rose to hit an intra-day high of 30,930 before slumping and closing at 30,000, down 600.

September 1995 was unchanged at 30,150, October dropped 50 to 30,400, November 100 to 30,700, December 20 to 30,840, January 1996 was down 20 to 30,850, February was unchanged at 30,800 but May added 30 to 30,330. April did not trade.

Combined volume dropped to 38,325 tonnes from 46,950.

Aluminium September lost 40 yuan to 18,700, October 70 to 18,610, November 100 to 18,600, December 100 to 18,600. Combined volume decreased to 2,975 tonnes from 3,425.

Despite the falls, analysts said they were optimistic about the the near-term trend in Shanghai metals, believing the LME would rise in the coming days.-Reuter