Base metals were higher on Friday. Copper rose 0.26 cents to close at $2.4919/lb. Nickel gained nearly 23 cents to finish at $7.5266/lb. Zinc climbed almost one penny, ending at $0.7530/lb. Aluminum added a cent and a half, closing at $0.7957/lb., while lead moved to $0.7880/lb., up a penny and a half from the previous session. Copper is up 3.5% this week and 7.8% since June 1, but an abrupt reversal could be just around the corner.

China’s copper imports are slowing after record purchases, likely ending an 81% price rally this year, according to Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan’s second-largest smelter of the red metal.

“Excessive imports mean much of the purchased metal was just stored, raising the risk that they may sell it back to the market and depress prices,” said Koichi Kaku, general manager at Sumitomo. “Imports may have exceeded manufacturing demand by as much as 1.3 million

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Base metals were mixed on Thursday. Copper fell 1.25 cents to close at $2.4893/lb. Nickel gained just over 1 cent to finish at $7.2998/lb. Zinc lost almost one penny, ending at $0.7450/lb. Aluminum rose a cent and change, closing at $0.7798/lb., while lead moved to $0.7719/lb., down half a penny from the previous session. Despite copper’s slight pullback, investors remain mostly bullish, encouraged by what they see as an improving outlook on demand and economic recovery.

“The overall sentiment in the metals market has improved a lot,” said Yingxi Yu, an analyst at Barclays Capital. “It has not much to do with the dollar, but follows stock markets closely, as the second quarter’s corporate earnings were broadly better than expected, improving outlook on the economy.”

Copper supply concerns also underpinned the bullish sentiment. Violence was reported near Freeport-McMoRan’s massive Grasberg mine in Indonesia, and a power problem occurred at Anglo American’s

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Base metals were mostly down on Tuesday. Copper fell 0.68 cents to close at $2.4374/lb. Nickel dropped more than 21 cents to finish at $7.1320/lb. Zinc lost three-quarters of a penny, ending at $0.7357/lb. Aluminum added less than a quarter of a cent, closing at $0.7634/lb., while lead moved to $0.7493/lb., down more than a penny from the previous session. Copper retreated a bit yesterday capping a six-day rally that pushed the red metal to a nine-month high on Monday. Speculation that demand will slacken in a seasonal slowdown in China had much to do with the drop in prices.

China imported 378,943 metric tons of refined copper last month, a 12% increase from May and the fifth straight record, customs office data showed yesterday.

“Demand should ease after builders filled orders for the summer construction peak and the margin between China and London prices narrowed,” said Pang Ying, an analyst

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Precious Metals

Gold jumped up about midway through trading in the Far East and continued its rise through London and the Comex open to an intraday high just north of $955. But at around 10 a.m. in New York the yellow metal got knocked down below $950 where it stayed through the Globex close, finishing at $949.10/oz., up $11.40. Overnight, gold is little changed.

Platinum experienced a sharp sell-off late in Hong Kong, but clawed its way back to post a decent gain for the day, closing at $1181/oz., up $9. Overnight, platinum is slightly higher.

Silver made big gains through Hong Kong and early London trading that were far too substantial to get wiped out by the 10 a.m. sell-off in New York, after which it remained range-bound between $13.60 and $13.65 and closed near the middle at $13.63/oz., up 22 cents. Overnight, silver is trending lower. (Click here for

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Base metals all posted mediocre gains on Friday. Copper climbed 2.72 cents to close at $2.4082/lb. Nickel added nearly 4 cents to finish at $7.2507/lb. Zinc gained more than 3 pennies, ending at $0.7182/lb. Aluminum tacked on more almost 1 cent, closing at $0.7589/lb., while lead moved to $0.7533/lb., up almost three-and-a-half pennies from the previous session.

Copper closed at its highest price this year on Friday, also boosted by the unexpected jump in U.S. home construction data.

The big boost in U.S. housing permits coupled with weakness in the U.S. dollar and a strong expansion in China’s economy combined to drive the price of copper up nearly 10% on the week, said Michael Pento, chief economist with Delta Global Advisors.

“An upper-cut, a left hook, and a body blow … what a three-punch combination to power copper up through its $2.40 resistance level,” he said.

Despite the stronger tone this week, analysts

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Base metals were (mostly) slightly higher on Thursday. Copper gained 6.35 cents to close at $2.2069/lb. Nickel fell by nearly 2 cents to finish at $6.7139/lb. Zinc was little changed, ending at $0.6780/lb. Aluminum rose by nearly a cent, closing at $0.7014/lb., while lead moved to $0.7319/lb., up more than half a cent from the previous session. Despite copper’s rise yesterday, there is renewed sentiment that Chinese demand (which boosted prices by more than half this year) will weaken as the slow seasonal consumption period approaches.

“The market is watching out for Chinese imports and stockpiles data and these will drive sentiment in the days ahead,” Jia Zheng, analyst at Southwest Futures Co., said yesterday.

“There is talk that around 100,000 tons of copper is making its way to LME warehouses in Asia in the next three weeks, and that is weighing a bit on sentiment,” said Jia.

China is expected to

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TORONTO, ONTARIO — (Marketwire) — 06/28/09 — Sparrowtech Resources, Inc. (”Sparrowtech”) (PINK SHEETS: SPMC) announced today that it has entered into option agreements with Converge Global, Inc. (”Converge Global”) (PINK SHEETS: CVRG) and Uranium Hunter Corporation (”Uranium Hunter”) (OTCBB: URHN) on its recently acquired Eagle Nest Mining Property (”the Property”) in La Paz County, Arizona.

Eagle Nest Mining Property

Sparrowtech acquired a 100% interest in the Eagle Nest Mining Property (Claims AMC294529 and AMC294535) from D.A.R. Mining and Mr. Marvin Roe. These property claims include a previously producing Au-Cu-Ag-Fe (Gold, Copper, Silver and Iron) mine located 10 miles off Highway 95 in La Paz County. Easy access to the mine site and a good water supply will facilitate ease of construction for expansion of the mine site.

Converge Global, Inc. Option (www.convergeglobalinc.com)

Converge Global acquired an option from Sparrowtech to purchase a 45% Earned In Interest in the

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GM Cans Mid-Size Trucks; Treasury Yields Soar to 7-month High; Airlines Grounded by $9 Billion Loss; Copper Sinks as Dollar Rises; Supreme Court Delays Chrysler Sale; McDonald’s misses estimates; Apple debuts new iPhone

After repeated attempts to sell its medium-duty truck operations,General Motors Corp. (OTC: GMGQ), yesterday (Monday) said that it would halt their production by July 31. Reuters reported. “After four years of working with multiple potential buyers, General Motors has decided to wind down its medium-duty truck operations,” the automaker said in a statement.  GM plans to cease production of Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC Topkick. The automaker sold about 20,000 of the vehicles last year, down from roughly 30,000 in 2007, as the U.S. economy sank into a deep recession. Yields on two-year treasuries soared to the highest level since November, as investors expressed concern that record issuance of U.S. debt may overwhelm demand ...

Mr. Market has begun to show clear signs of split personality disorder in recent weeks. Now that investors have exhaled in relief that a deflationary apocalypse has been avoided, the new reality of reflation and stagnation is sinking in…

“Mr. Market” is starting to show clear signs of split personality disorder.

On the one hand, certain areas of the market – the ones much favored in the big run-up – have started to wilt and fade as the much-lauded “green shoots” turn brown. On the other hand, other areas of the market – which didn’t participate so much in the rally at first – have started showing signs of life.

Take the grain markets for example. Foodstuffs like corn, wheat, soybeans and sugar have been red-hot in recent days.

We can see this in the Powershares

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Base metals were back in the red on Thursday. Copper fell 4.35 cents from Wednesday’s close to $1.6306/lb.

Nickel lost more than 19 cents to finish at $4.3242/lb. Zinc managed a small gain of just under one-half a penny, ending at $0.5405/lb. Aluminum lost slightly more than 1 cent and one-half, closing at $0.5785/lb., while lead moved to $0.5214/lb., up about two-thirds of a cent from the previous session.

Bloomberg reported that copper futures fell for the first time in three days after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao indicated the government doesn’t need to increase stimulus spending to achieve its target for economic growth.

Collapsing exports have dragged China, the world’s biggest metals user, to its weakest growth in seven years. Yesterday, copper surged to the highest price since late November on speculation additional stimulus spending in China would boost demand for metals.

“There was no increase in the overall size of the stimulus

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