Morning Copper Market Report

While July copper was able to forge a temporary healthy bounce overnight, it was unable to hold that rally attempt. Asian Copper prices were weaker overnight, as that region continues to factor in slack demand and a lack of optimism toward the situation in Europe. The copper market might have been lifted by news that Spain officially asked for bank assistance, but that optimism was short lived in an environment where the world has little faith in the EU to rise up and aggressively deal with its credit crisis. While copper might take some direction today from US new home sales and a Texas manufacturing survey, those reports are unlikely to definitively improve global macro economic views. LME copper stocks overnight increased by 225 tons to stand at 253,200 metric tons. The Commitments of Traders Futures and Options report as of June 19th for Copper showed Non-Commercial traders were net short 14,282 contracts, a decrease of 676 contracts. The Commercial traders were net long 23,853 contracts, a decrease of 548 contracts. The Non-reportable traders were net short 9,571 contracts, an increase of 128 contracts. Non-Commercial and Non-reportable combined traders held a net short position of 23,853 contracts. This represents a decrease of 548 contracts in the net short position held by these traders. The record Non-commercial and non-reportable net spec long position is just under 30,000 contracts and with the nearby copper contract to the lows on Friday, sitting as much as 18 cents a pound below the level where the COT report was measured, it is possible that copper is approaching record short ground.