LONDON: Copper prices fell in London on Thursday, under pressure from persisting uncertainty over the economic recovery in top metals consumer China and a stronger dollar.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.5% at $8,099.5 per metric ton by 1055 GMT.
“Industrial metals trade lower led by nickel and aluminium with copper trading lower for a third day with focus on weak China data,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.
Copper, used in power and construction, is down 0.9% so far this week. Its uptrend from Oct. 23, when it touched an 11-month low of $7,856 per ton, has been broken, leaving the metal exposed to further losses, Hansen added.
The metal is hemmed in by the 50-day moving average at $8,161 and the 21-day moving average at $8,061.
China’s Oct copper imports jump amid low stocks, solid demand
China’s consumer prices swung back into contraction and factory-gate deflation persisted in October as domestic demand struggled, weighing on the outlook for any broad-based recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.
Data showed a mixed picture of China’s economic performance. Manufacturing activity and exports slowed in October, but imports grew unexpectedly, with copper imports hitting a 10-month high.
“China’s road for economic (post-COVID) recovery remains very gradual amid ongoing property weakness and fragile confidence,” Citi said in a research.
However, “the energy transition and the strength in the manufacturing sector, especially seen in the high level of lending it has received, help to offset the demand weakness (for copper) from property sector weakness,” Citi added.
The U.S. currency index rose, making dollar-priced metals more expensive for buyers using other currencies, while markets were bracing for remarks from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell due at 1900 GMT.
LME aluminium eased 1.1% to $2,239 a ton, nickel declined 1.4% to $17,845, zinc shed 0.7% to $2,592, lead was flat at $2,190, and tin was down 1.0% at $24,640.
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