THE world price of copper defied the prophets of doom to register only modest losses in a reaction to the eclipse of Japanese star trader Mr Yasuo Hamanaka.
But storm warnings stayed hoisted over the trade in metals.
Anxiety prevailed over how Mr Hamanaka's huge holding was being unwound, even as fraud squad inquiries were pursued into suspicions that there had been a global attempt to rig the market.
The benchmark London Metal Exchange's three months delivery copper dropped early to almost $1,800, (£1,132) per tonne from a close on Friday at $1,980. It then recovered to around $1,950 by noon yesterday.
Japan's giant Sumitomo Corp metals conglomerate, which sacked Mr Hamanaka last week, was left sitting on his huge long, positions in copper after he confessed on June 5th to losses worth $1.8 billion in 10 years of unauthorised deals.
"They have to liquidate very soon," Mr Vinod Kumar, director of Singapore based metal company Donald Mcarthy said, reflecting fears that big sell orders might soon hit the market.
Traders called Mr Hamanalui, Mr Five Per Cent because of the proportion of the $700 billion trade in copper he controlled.
But regulators monitored the metals market yesterday amid fears that a collapse could unnerve other financial markets.
Trade sources also did not discount reports that central banks might be working with the regulators behind the scenes to ensure" an orderly unwinding of the Hamanaka legacy.
One bellwether, gold, was fixed, in London slightly firmer at $384.55 per ounce.
