The copper market has held within a relatively tight trading range while posting moderate losses this morning. News that China posted surprisingly strong inflation readings could reduce market expectations that the Chinese central bank was ready to step away from their tightening stance, and has put additional pressure on copper prices. On the other hand, news that the Chinese government might increase affordable housing projects could cushion the copper market against the negative inflation news. While the copper market will probably take most of its direction from the ebb and flow of Greek debt swap news today, some traders are already looking ahead to the Chinese copper import news due out on Friday. Given the inflation news from China and the fact that March copper currently sits roughly 14 cents a pound above the recent lows, other traders feel that copper needs some positive news from China or Greece to sustain the generally positive tome for copper prices this week.
