Copper, gold prices hold steady as Spanish concerns resurface

Domestic commodity futures were mixed Thursday with steel rebar up and soybean derivatives down, though most commodities traded near even.

The most traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) slipped 0.14 percent to close at 59,070 yuan ($9,370) per ton. The contract opened 0.27 percent below Wednesday's closing price, following a larger drop in the benchmark three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange (LME) after the Chinese mainland markets closed.

The LME copper contract had recovered a little Thursday, trading up 0.3 percent at $8,168 per ton when mainland markets closed Wednesday.

The most traded gold contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) shed 0.15 percent to close at 360.31 yuan per gram Thursday. SHFE gold stayed in line with its counterpart on Comex overnight with both losing about 0.5 percent.

The December Comex contract was trading about 0.4 percent higher at $1,760.40 per ounce when the mainland market's closed Thursday.

The commodity market's appetite for risk recovered slightly Thursday as "stimulus fever" wore off and traders focused on China and Europe, according the Australian bank ANZ.

"European equities fell sharply, while US equities declined to a lesser degree. A spate of negative headlines on the Spanish economy and Europe more broadly dampened sentiment," ANZ commodity analysts wrote Thursday.

SHFE steel rebar was one of the market's bright spots. The January contract rose 1.16 percent to 3,568 yuan per ton. Meanwhile, the January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 1.24 percent to 9,232 yuan per ton.

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