MARKET UPDATE

MARKET UPDATE AT 5 PM ON 21 AUGUST

Copper rose in London, buoyed by a weaker dollar and signs

that China, the world's largest user of the metal, may

increase purchases.

Copper stockpiles earmarked for delivery out of London Metal

Exchange-registered warehouses in South Korea, next to China,

more than tripled to 9,025 metric tons, the exchange said today.

The dollar weakened against the yen and the euro, making

metals cheaper for holders of other currencies.

``There's a growing feeling that the Chinese are ready to

enter the market,'' Daniel Hynes, an analyst at Merrill

Lynch & Co., said today by phone. A jump in canceled

stockpiles ``certainly is showing that demand is going

to pick up.''

Copper for delivery in three months advanced $150, or 2 percent,

to $7,665 a ton as of 9:24 a.m. local time, paring this quarter's

loss to 9.9 percent.

The LME index of 6 industrial metals has lost 11 percent since

the end of June on concern that weakening economies in Europe

and the U.S. may trim demand for metals. Price declines in

nickel, zinc and tin obliged producers to limit or curb output.