Copper edges higher as dollar sinks ahead of US jobs data

Industrial metals were mostly higher on Friday, with copper's advance putting it on track for a second straight weekly gain, as the dollar sank to its lowest in almost a month ahead of a crucial US jobs report.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.6% at $9,433.50 a tonne by 0330 GMT, while the most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1% to 69,500 yuan ($10,760.35) a tonne.

Fundamentals

• The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six peers, slipped 0.04% to 92.193 after earlier touching 92.189 for the first time since Aug. 5, making greenback-priced metals cheaper for holders of other currencies.

• Activity in top metals consumer China's services sector slumped into sharp contraction in August, a private survey showed, as restrictions to curb the Delta coronavirus variant threatened to derail the recovery in the world's second-biggest economy.

• LME aluminium advanced 0.3% to $2,702 a tonne, holding on to gains and hovering near a 10-year peak scaled on Thursday driven by fears of tight supply.

• In Shanghai, the most-traded October aluminium gained 0.5% to 21,300 yuan a tonne, having hit a 13-year high of 21,550 yuan earlier this week.

• LME nickel fell 0.3% to $19,410 a tonne, while Shanghai nickel dropped 0.9% to 145,690 yuan a tonne.

• First-half nickel output from the Philippines, the biggest supplier of nickel ore to top metals consumer China, rose 39% from a year earlier.