2014.12.0304:15:46UTC+00Aluminum bounces back in London market behind better than expected car sales in US

Prices of aluminum recovered today with sales of vehicles in the US, the second biggest user of base metals in the world, boosting its demand behind figures that exceeded expectations last month.

Aluminum climbed up by as much as 0.3% on the London Metal Exchange for a price per metric ton of $1,983.25 late morning Hong Kong time.

Futures of copper with a delivery date in March on the New York market declined by 0.3% for a price per pound of $2.8835, while contracts for February in Shanghai increased by 0.2% to 45,470 yuan, or $7,391, per ton.

Vehicle makers in the US sold a total annualized rate of 17.2 million units in November, based on data from Autodata Corp. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News had earlier forecast sales of 16.8 million. Spending in the construction sector was also higher than expected with a 1.1% gain.

Fund manager Tetsu Emori from Tokyo’s Astmax Asset Management Inc. says that, “The auto sales in the U.S. is quite a positive number. With construction in the housing market positive, this should be supporting the base metals market.”