Copper rose on Thursday after China said it had agreed with the United States to cancel tariffs imposed during a protracted trade war in phases, reviving hopes for an end to the damaging conflict and a boost in demand for metals.
But there was no timeline given for the rolling back in tariffs and the gains in metals were minor.
"Even though copper prices are higher, markets aren't wholly convinced that this is an end to trade tensions," said Capital Economics analyst Kieran Clancy.
"It is a positive factor that the Chinese spoke about rolled back tariffs but the two sides are still far on fundamental issues."
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was bid down 0.7% to $5,947 a tonne, after failing to trade in official rings. The 16-month long trade dispute has hurt global growth and demand for base metals.
Total stocks of copper in LME warehouses slipped to their lowest since June, at 238,550 tonnes from 241,925 in the previous session.
Falling stocks stoked concerns of shortages in nearby supply, seeing a narrowing in the discount for LME cash copper over three-month contract.
The cash contract now stands at a discount of $18.50 a tonne over the benchmark from $26 in the previous session.
Output from the world's biggest copper producer, Chile, has been mostly maintained and a majority of operations were running smoothly despite weeks of unrest in the country.
A meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign a trade deal could be delayed to December, from November initially, as talks continue over terms and venue, a US official told Reuters.
Some nickel ore exporters have been allowed to resume shipments from Indonesia following a temporary halt that was imposed to investigate reports of rule violations, the minister who oversees the mining sector said.
The South East Asian country, which is the world's largest nickel ore exporter, temporarily stopped ore shipments in October after reports that monthly exports had surged nearly three-fold after the government brought forward an export ban by two years to 2020.
LME nickel gained 0.3% to $16,290 a tonne.
Japanese manufacturers turned the most pessimistic in 6-1/2 years in November, the Reuters Tankan poll showed, as the world's third largest economy was hit by a global slowdown, natural disasters and a tax increase.
Japan is the biggest importer of aluminium.
LME aluminium was bid down 0.1% at $1,807 a tonne, zinc gained 0.4% to $2,486, lead was bid down 0.6% to $2,102, after touching its lowest in over a month while tin gained 0.2% to $16,605.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.