Metal prices flat as market awaits Q2 GDP

Chinese base metal futures clung close to even Wednesday as the market searched for direction ahead of the release of the country's second quarter GDP numbers.

The most traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) crawled up 0.13 percent to close at 55,150 yuan ($8,679.05) per ton. The contract opened 0.2 percent down from Tuesday's closing price, then eked out a small gain over the session.

The three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange (LME) lost about 0.5 percent while the Chinese mainland markets were closed Tuesday. It was trading at $7,512 per ton when the markets closed Wednesday, up about 0.1 percent for the day.

"There has been a lack of trading direction lately ahead of China's GDP data and in view of a sluggish global economy. Many investors are just trying to cash in on short-term trends and this keeps trades within very narrow ranges," an analyst with an international trader told Reuters yesterday.

Copper dipped along with market sentiment late Tuesday when Germany's constitutional court met to rule on the legality of one of Europe's bailout funds, according to a research note from the Australian bank ANZ.

The euro has fallen to its lowest point against the dollar in two years, Reuters reported Wednesday. The US dollar continued to climb Wednesday, another factor that weighed on the prices of copper and other base metals.