The base metals were mostly higher on Thursday. Copper sank from the pre-dawn hours to mid-morning, falling almost to $1.95, but then turned dramatically, retaking all the lost ground and finishing at its intraday high of $2.0155/lb., up a half-cent.

Nickel started up at the New York open and climbed for most of the day, closing at $5.56268/lb., up 4 cents. Zinc also rebounded from its pre-dawn lows to climb to its intraday high of $0.6678/lb., up just over a penny. Aluminum posted a modest gain, adding over three-quarters of a cent, to $0.6769/lb., while lead was down and up to no avail, ending at $0.6517/lb., unchanged.

Copper led the industrial metals’ rebound off their European lows, following the strengthening of the equities markets.

“The copper market turned right around the same time as the S&P (stock index) started to move into positive territory and the stock market started to do better,” said Sterling Smith, vice president with FuturesOne in Chicago.

Smith commented on news the U.S. administration plans to oversee over-the-counter derivatives markets, seeing the move as copper supportive, since it should eventually restore investor confidence.

“When they get that in place, copper will directly benefit because it is the raw metal of the economy,” said Smith.

Elsewhere, Macquarie Bank predicted that the global copper surplus will total about 500,000 metric tons this year, 44% lower than previously forecast, on higher demand from China and supply problems at some mines.

“The apparent consumption in China in the first four months was up 40 percent year-on-year,” said Macquarie’s Jim Lennon. Macquarie had previously targeted a surplus of 900,000 tons.

And stockpile data continued to be supportive. Copper inventories monitored by the LME fell by 3,100 metric tons yesterday, to 370,650 tons.

Source: Base Metals Mostly Up