BEIJING: All base metals moved higher on Wednesday, with London copper hitting a one-week high, after a
report that top consumer China would try to boost spending on autos and home appliances this year, as well as signs of progress in Sino-U.S. trade talks.
Ning Jizhe, vice chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said in an interview with CCTV that the policies would be part of wider efforts to strengthen domestic consumption in China.
Copper, used in air conditioners, refrigerators and autos, climbed as much as 1.3 percent to $5,982.50 a tonne in London, the highest since Jan. 2.
Helen Lau, an analyst at Argonaut Securities in Hong Kong, said the Chinese stimulus would be "positive" for a range of metals used in autos and home appliances, including copper, aluminium and steel.
Chinese auto sales were "hammered by the poor consumption sentiment when the Sino-U.S. trade war was escalating" in the second half of 2018, she added in a note.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 1.1 percent at $5,968.50 a tonne by 0714
GMT, after slipping 0.3 percent in the previous session. The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up 0.7 percent at 47,680 yuan ($6,972.29) a tonne.
* TRADE: China's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the latest round of trade talks with the United States had concluded, with the results to be released soon.
* GRASBERG: Exports of copper concentrate from Indonesia's Grasberg mine, the world's second-largest copper mine, are expected to drop to 200,000 tonnes this year from around 1.2 million tonnes in 2018, an official at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said on Wednesday.
* VEDANTA: India's Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for Vedanta to reopen its south Indian copper smelter by refusing to stay an order from the country's environmental court.
* OTHER METALS: Nickel, used to make stainless steel, led the gains in a broad base metals rally, touching one-month highs in London and Shanghai. It gained as much as 1.3 percent in London to $11,320 a tonne, the highest since Dec. 4, and closed up 1.3 percent in Shanghai.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares climbed to a 3-1/2-week high on Wednesday and European and U.S. markets looked set to follow on growing optimism that the United States and China were inching toward a trade deal that could lift a major threat to the global economy.
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