Market and product

Copper pared a third weekly drop,rebounding from the lowest level in 20 months, after China’scentral bank was said to have made funds available to lendersamid a cash squeeze.

Copper for delivery in three months rose as much as 0.7percent to $6,817 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange,after dropping to $6,692, the lowest since October 2011. Ittraded at $6,797.25 at 10:40 a.m. in Shanghai and has retreated4.1 percent this week. The LME Index of six primary base metalsretreated 2.5 percent yesterday to 2,947.2, the lowest sinceJuly 2010.

China’s benchmark money-market rates retreated from recordsafter the central bank was said to have made funds available tolenders amid a cash squeeze. The S&P 500 declined by the mostsince November 2011 yesterday, while the dollar headed for aweekly gain against all of its 16 major peers as Federal ReserveChairman Ben S.Bernanke said on June 19 the central bank maystart dialing down its stimulus effort this year.

“LME copper has reached a key technical level, and thereshould be some tentative buying,” Liang Lijuan, an analyst atCOFCO Futures Co., said by phone from Beijing. “An effectivebreach of $6,600-$6,700 could lead to another $1,000 fall, sopeople are asking themselves whether this is justified.”

Aluminum in London climbed 0.4 percent to $1,805 a tonafter dropping for 11 straight sessions to the lowest levelsince 2009 as stockpiles monitored by the LME rose to a recordyesterday. Nickel, zinc and lead climbed.

Copper for delivery in October on the Shanghai FuturesExchange dropped 0.8 percent to 49,340 yuan ($8,048) a ton. TheSeptember futures contract on the Comex rose 0.4 percent to$3.085 per pound.