Morning Copper Market Report

July copper has posted moderate gains this morning but remains well below this week's highs. Many traders were surprised that the copper market wasn't able to benefit from the latest series of official hints of upcoming Chinese easing. While Asian copper prices overnight did manage a slight recovery, some traders feel that the US copper market may need to see an actual Chinese easing move before market sentiment is definitively improved. In fact, copper has been unable to find much support from a potential Euro zone shift from austerity to growth policies. While a major copper company overnight predicted Chinese copper demand growth to improve in the second half of this year, that news has made little impact on the market during this morning's trading. With a full slate of US economic data to be released today, the outlook for the US economy might become clearer but many traders think that the Federal Reserve needs to see even more evidence of US economic slowing before they initiate fresh easing measures.