BEIJING: Copper prices dipped on Friday, heading for a weekly loss, as soft global demand weighed on sentiment despite the latest supply disruptions.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.2% at $9,038 a tonne by 0158 GMT. For the week so far, the contract is down 2.4%.
Citi Research economists believe a softer-than-anticipated China recovery and sustained manufacturing sector weakness outside of China will keep metals demand under pressure.
US manufacturing contracted further in January as higher interest rates stifled demand for goods, but factories did not appear to be laying off workers in large numbers.
The dollar on Friday recovered from a heavy selloff in the aftermath of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech, and against a basket of currencies, making it less attractive for non-dollar holders to buy the greenback-priced commodity.
London copper rebounds as dollar plunges
Investors now eye a jobs report in the United States due later in the day.
The strength of the labour market is a key concern for the Fed, which announced a 25 basis-points interest rate hike Wednesday.
The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange inched 1% down at 68,490 yuan($10,157.95) a tonne.
Among other metals, LME aluminium dipped 0.3% to $2,608 a tonne, tin eased 1.3% to $28,995 a tonne and zinc fell 1% to $3,348 a tonne, while lead advanced 0.5% to $2,144 a tonne.
SHFE aluminium slid 0.3% at 19,060 yuan a tonne, while lead inched 0.1% down to 15,290 yuan a tonne, while nickel added 0.6% to 222,150 yuan a tonne and zinc was up 0.2% at 24,205 yuan a tonne.
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