UPDATE 1-Aluminium maker Norsk Hydro Q4 beats forecast, offers dividend

Underlying operating profit NOK 483 mln vs fcast 310 mln

Offers dividend of NOK 0.75 per share, as expected

Says market remains uncertain but is more upbeat on 2014

OSLO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Norsk Hydro, one of the world's largest producers of aluminium, reported core earnings well above forecasts on Wednesday due to cost cuts and offered a dividend for 2013 in line with expectations.

The price of aluminium - used in the aerospace, construction and automotive sectors - has nearly halved since 2008 due to a massive global surplus of the metal, forcing loss-making firms to slash capacity and make savings.

Norsk Hydro was no exception and had to make several rounds of cost savings throughout its divisions.

"Extensive improvement programmes backed our results for 2013, despite market uncertainty and low aluminium prices," Chief Executive Svein Richard Brandtzaeg said in a statement.

"Although the uncertainty remains, we are entering 2014 on a positive note, as we expect demand for aluminium to slightly exceed production this year, in the world outside China."

Hydro reiterated that it saw world demand outside China growing by 2-4 percent in 2014.

Underlying operating profit rose to 483 million crowns ($79.02 million) for the fourth quarter from 138 million a year ago, beating expectations for 310 million in a Reuters poll.

Norsk Hydro fared better than some of its peers. The United States' biggest producer, Alcoa, reported a big loss for the fourth quarter due to falling aluminium prices earlier this year.

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Base metals close higher

              Base metals on the London Metal Exchange (LME) have closed higher, after a senior Federal Reserve official said the bank may keep pumping money into the US economy beyond October.

At the close of open-outcry trading in the London ring on Friday, LME 3-month copper was 0.7 per cent higher on the day at $US7,295 a metric ton.

Aluminum rose 0.9 per cent to $US1,840 a ton, while nickel closed 1.2 per cent higher at $US13,985 a ton.

In early European trading, the metals were lifted as the US dollar weakened against other currencies including the euro, making dollar-priced assets more appealing to buyers holding the other currencies.

Analysts said book-squaring ahead of the end of the month and end of the quarter was lending support to prices.

Later, Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, suggested the central bank could refrain from winding down its support for the economy until 2014.

'We could make a decision in October,' Evans said on the sidelines of a bank conference in Oslo

'We need to see further developments of the positive variety for the economy to have that added confidence. It wouldn't surprise me if we go a little bit longer.'

The Fed's bond-buying program has supported demand for base metals by stoking activity in industries that consume the metals, such as construction and manufacturing.

Some market watchers said this week's moderate price gains were likely to be short-lived. Starting October 7, the base metals industry will gather in London for the exchange's annual LME Week.

'In the run-up to LME week in London, global manufacturing is showing signs of improvement and base metals may get a short-term price lift,' noted Barclays analysts in a report on Friday.

The bank added that emerging markets, big consumers of commodities, still look fragile, with much of the improvement in Chinese growth stemming from policy support to stabilise rather than boost growth.

Recent price gains will be difficult to sustain, said the bank, without a corresponding improvement of the supply-and-demand fundamentals that underlie industrial metal prices.

'We favour selling into this price strength,' it said. - bigpondnews.com

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Copper higher ahead of Fed statement

Trade was cautious ahead of a policy statement by the US Federal Open Market Committee, which was due out after the LME close.

 At the PM kerb close on Wednesday, LME three-month copper was up 1.6 per cent at $US7,183 a metric ton. Aluminium was 0.4 per cent higher at $US1,784.40 a ton.

Base metal prices found support from the Chinese market, where local traders stocked up on industrial metals ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival later this week, said analysts and brokers. Markets in China - the world's top base metal consumer - will be closed on Thursday and Friday.

Other investors awaited the conclusion of a two-day FOMC meeting - which issued its policy statement at 1800 GMT (0400 Thursday AEST).

Markets had expected the FOMC to withdraw some of the $US85 billion-a-month it has been spending to buy bonds, known as quantitative easing. But, after the LME close, the FOMC surprised by announcing it was keeping its stimulus measures in place.

Since base metals have a range of everyday uses, from smartphones to household plumbing, efforts to spur economic growth tend to prop up demand.

"For the most part, participants are bracing for a degree of tapering, although the game now seems to have shifted towards guessing the exact amount," said INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir.

Base metals also drew support from some solid US housing data on Wednesday.

Housing starts rose 0.9 per cent in August from July to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 891,000, the US Commerce Department said. That was less than the 915,000 forecast by economists.

August home starts were driven by a seven per cent increase in single-family homes, considered a more reliable barometer of the sector's health.

"The small rise in housing starts in August is not as disappointing as it appears," said Capital Economics analyst Paul Diggle. - news.com.au

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Copper rebounds from 18-month low on bargain buying, Goldman upgrade

mcx copper tips @ www.mcxfreetips.com

                     Copper futures were up nearly 3% on Wednesday, as investors returned to the market to seek cheap valuations following the previous session’s plunge to the lowest level since October 2011.

Copper prices found further support after Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs said they expect prices of the industrial metal to rebound in the near-term.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for May delivery traded at USD3.162 a pound during European morning trade, up 2.3% on the day.

New York-traded copper prices rose by as much as 3% earlier in the session to hit a daily high of USD3.188 a pound.

In a report published earlier in the day, Goldman Sachs analysts said they expect a rebound in copper prices over the next three months, after it underperformed other metals the past month. 

"An improvement in sentiment towards demand, with the backdrop of reasonable copper price fundamentals in the near term should see prices move higher, especially in the context of significant short positioning in the market at present," they said in a note.

On Tuesday, copper futures fell 1.4% to hit a low of USD3.059 a pound, the weakest level since October 20, 2011, after data showed that manufacturing activity in China expanded at a slower rate in April.

China’s HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers Index, the earliest indicator of the country's industrial activity, fell to a two-month low of 50.5 in April from a final reading of 51.6 in March.

China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.

Copper prices have been under heavy selling pressure in recent sessions, as investors exited the market amid worries about the economic outlook in top copper consumers China and the U.S.

Prices of the red metal are down more than 23% since hitting a recent high of USD3.978 a pound hit in February 2012, meeting the standard for a bear market.

Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for June delivery rallied 1.1% to trade at USD1,424.85 a troy ounce, while silver for May delivery rose 0.9% to trade at USD23.02 a troy ounce. Courtesy : Investing.com

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Copper Below $7,000 for First Time in 18 Months as Metals Slide

             Copper in London fell below $7,000 for the first time in almost 18 months as data from Europe to China, the biggest user, raised concern that demand is faltering. Aluminum, nickel, zinc, tin and lead also retreated.

Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange plunged as much as 4 percent to $6,800 a metric ton, the lowest level since October 2011, and was at $6,840.25 at 9:38 a.m. in Shanghai. Metal for delivery in August was at 50,530 yuan ($8,175) a ton, declining by a daily limit, on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. The July futures contract on the Comex dropped 3.1 percent to $3.1035 per pound.

European car sales are sliding to a 20-year low as demand plunged last month in Germany. TheFederal Reserve said yesterday in its Beige Book business survey the U.S. economic expansion remained “moderate.” China’s first-quarter gross domestic product growth and fixed-asset investments, as well as March industrial production trailed economists’ forecasts.

“After breaching key technical levels, copper is in a downward trajectory,” Xu Liping, an analyst at HNA Topwin Futures Co., said by phone from Shanghai.

Courtesy : Bloomberg

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MARCH-26th INTRADY LEVELS FOR MCX COMMODITY MARKET

26-MARCH-2013	RESISTANCE LEVELS	SUPPORT LEVELS

COMMODITY	RES-1	RES-2	RES-3	SUP-1	SUP-2	SUP-3
ALUMINIUM	104.40	105.20	105.65	103.15	102.70	101.90
COPPER	419.15	421.20	423.15	415.15	413.20	411.15
CRUDEOIL	5198	5240	5281	5115	5074	5032
GOLD	29731	29875	30069	29393	29199	29055
LEAD	118.55	119.35	119.95	117.10	116.45	115.65
NATURALGAS	217.80	219.90	221.50	214.10	212.60	210.40
NICKEL	926.90	933.30	938.10	915.70	910.90	904.50
SILVER	54497	54781	55223	53771	53329	53045
ZINC	105.10	105.80	106.45	103.75	103.10	102.40

For More Details Please Visit WWW.MCXFREETIPS.COM

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MARCH-25th INTRADY LEVELS FOR MCX COMMODITY MARKET

25-MARCH-2013	RESISTANCE LEVELS	SUPPORT LEVELS

COMMODITY	RES-1	RES-2	RES-3	SUP-1	SUP-2	SUP-3
ALUMINIUM	105.40	106.10	107.40	103.40	102.10	101.40
COPPER	421.10	422.95	425.90	416.30	413.35	411.50
CRUDEOIL	5106	5123	5149	5063	5037	5020
GOLD	29772	29867	29928	29616	29555	29460
LEAD	119.30	120.05	121.35	117.25	115.95	115.20
NATURALGAS	216.80	219.70	221.60	211.80	209.90	206.90
NICKEL	937.20	944.90	957.40	917.00	904.50	896.80
SILVER	54752	55379	55769	53735	53345	52718
ZINC	105.90	106.55	107.70	104.10	102.95	102.30

For More Details Please Visit WWW.MCXFREETIPS.COM

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MARCH-21st INTRADY LEVELS FOR MCX COMMODITY MARKET

21-MARCH-2013	RESISTANCE LEVELS	SUPPORT LEVELS

COMMODITY	RES-1	RES-2	RES-3	SUP-1	SUP-2	SUP-3
ALUMINIUM	104.60	105.15	105.50	103.70	103.35	102.80
COPPER	419.00	420.85	423.55	414.45	411.75	409.90
CRUDEOIL	5116	5139	5165	5067	5041	5018
GOLD	29794	29906	29973	29615	29548	29436
LEAD	118.70	119.20	119.90	117.50	116.70	116.20
NATURALGAS	217.40	219.70	222.70	212.10	209.10	206.80
NICKEL	921.03	926.67	936.53	905.53	895.67	890.03
SILVER	54579	54827	54977	54181	54031	53783
ZINC	104.35	104.75	105.15	103.55	103.15	102.75

For More Details Please Visit WWW.MCXFREETIPS.COM

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MARCH-20th INTRADY LEVELS FOR MCX COMMODITY MARKET

20-MARCH-2013	RESISTANCE LEVELS	SUPPORT LEVELS

COMMODITY	RES-1	RES-2	RES-3	SUP-1	SUP-2	SUP-3
ALUMINIUM	104.80	105.40	106.20	103.40	102.60	102.00
COPPER	415.75	418.65	420.60	410.90	408.95	406.05
CRUDEOIL	5143	5198	5231	5055	5022	4967
GOLD	30013	30155	30421	29605	29339	29197
LEAD	118.72	119.68	120.57	116.87	115.98	115.02
NATURALGAS	218.70	221.20	225.40	212.00	207.80	205.30
NICKEL	908.50	912.80	918.50	898.50	892.80	888.50
SILVER	54944	55182	55553	54335	53964	53726
ZINC	104.10	104.70	105.40	102.80	102.10	101.50

For More Details Please Visit WWW.MCXFREETIPS.COM

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MARCH-18th INTRADY LEVELS FOR MCX COMMODITY MARKET

18-MARCH-2013	RESISTANCE LEVELS	SUPPORT LEVELS

COMMODITY	RES-1	RES-2	RES-3	SUP-1	SUP-2	SUP-3
ALUMINIUM	105.70	106.60	107.10	104.30	103.80	102.90
COPPER	426.75	429.90	431.65	421.85	420.10	416.95
CRUDEOIL	5074	5087	5107	5041	5021	5008
GOLD	29435	29511	29582	29288	29217	29141
LEAD	121.08	122.42	123.13	119.03	118.32	116.98
NATURALGAS	212.10	215.40	218.40	205.80	202.80	199.50
NICKEL	929.80	944.70	952.80	906.80	898.70	883.80
SILVER	54427	54663	54803	54051	53911	53675
ZINC	106.25	107.70	108.50	103.95	103.20	101.75

For More Details Please Visit WWW.MCXFREETIPS.COM

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China Purchases 300,000 Tons of Aluminum to Boost Local Prices

               China’s state reserves manager signed agreements today with six smelters to buy 300,000 metric tons of aluminum at 15,137 yuan ($2,434) a ton in a bid to bolster local prices.

The State Bureau of Material Reserve will pay about 4 percent more than the spot price for the metal to be delivered in April and May, data provider SMM Information & Technology Co. said on its website today. That compares with a spot price of 14,550 yuan on Shanghai’s Changjiang Nonferrous Metal Market.

“The stockpiling plan could help tighten the market in April and May,” Huang Fulong, an analyst at Citic Securities Futures Co., said by phone from Shenzhen. “The agreed price was slightly lower than market expected.”

The sellers include Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., better known as Chalco, China Power Investment Corp., Yunnan Aluminum Co. and Henan Shenhuo Coal & Power Co., according to SMM. The reserves manager last bought 100,000 tons in November.

Aluminum for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange traded at $1,983 at 11:52 a.m. in Shanghai. The most- actively traded contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was at 14,855 yuan a ton. - Bloomberg

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