COMMODITIES-Orange juice jumps as Florida faces freeze

By Alden Bentley

NEW YORK, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Orange juice futures jumped
almost 4 percent on Wednesday as an arctic air blast enveloped
Florida and threatened to damage supply from the largest
citrus-growing state.

Early optimism that the worst of the global economic
downturn may be behind helped support copper and other
commodity prices, before the U.S. stock market turned lower
late in the day and undermined crude oil prices.

At ICE Futures US, the March frozen concentrated orange
juice contract OJH9 hit its highest level since Jan 22,
ending up 2.85 cents, or 3.92 percent, at 75.40 cents per lb.

The National Weather Service predicted that temperatures
could drop below freezing on Wednesday night in several
citrus-producing counties and in some places stay there for
longer than 12 hours.

Citrus crops will suffer damage if temperatures fall to 28
degrees or below for four hours or more.

In years past, juice futures often rose the 10-cent limit
in the spot month on the threat of a freeze. But bumper
supplies, flat retail demand and stiff competition from rival
juice drinks has curtailed the buying.

Copper rose to a one-week high on reports of increased
Chinese buying and upbeat economic data from China and the
United States.

Copper for March delivery HGH9 rose 0.90 cent to settle
at $1.5310 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX
division.

"There has been some reasonably positive macro data and
more speculation on SRB (China's State Reserves Bureau)
buying...it doesn't take much to move the markets to the
upside," Gayle Berry, an analyst at Barclays Capital, said.

China has started buying copper from domestic warehouses
and overseas markets as a move to gradually triple its state
reserves to about 1 million tonnes, trade sources familiar with
the situation said. [ID:nSHA29168]

A rise in China's official manufacturing index and a surge
in bank lending led to optimism the world's third-largest
economy may soon be on the road to recovery.

A less severe contraction in U.S. private sector jobs and
in the services sector added to the red metal's positive tone.

The Institute for Supply Management said its
non-manufacturing index came in at 42.9 in January compared
with 40.1 in December. [ID:nN04508901]

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March crude CLH9
settled down 46 cents, or 0.46 percent, at $40.32 a barrel,
traders said

Crude futures were up earlier on OPEC hints of more
production cuts and Wall Street's earlier rise on strong
service sector data and January's slowdown in job cuts.

Department of Energy statistics showing a big increase in
crude supplies last week weighed on the market.

"The pull back seems to coincide with the stock market
turning lower, but crude is still holding around $40, which in
light of the bearish DOE report is pretty impressive," said
Stephen Schork, editor of the Schork Report in Philadelphia.

Worries about the inflation repercussions of U.S. President
Barack Obama's $825 billion stimulus package, and liquidity
provisions by global central banks helped lift gold for April
delivery GCJ9 $9.70, or 1.1 percent, to $902.20 an ounce on
the COMEX.

UBS metals strategists predicted that gold investment
demand will double in 2009 from 2007, and that gold prices will
average $1,000 an ounce this year. [ID:nL4646344]
(Reporting by Alden Bentley; Editing by David Gregorio)