London copper weighed down by Fed rate cut uncertainty; Shanghai copper hits record high

BEIJING: London copper prices fell on Monday as the prospect of fewer-than-expected interest rate cuts by the US weighed on investor sentiment, while Shanghai copper climbed to an all-time high.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange lost 0.6% to $9,273.50 per metric ton by 0152 GMT, having gained 5.2% in the previous week.

The most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 2.1% to a record high of 75,170 yuan ($10,394.94) per ton, catching up to the gains of London prices after a trading holiday break on Thursday and Friday.

Rate cut hopes by the US Federal Reserves and soft a dollar boosted London copper to a 14-month high last Thursday.

Copper hits 14-month high on fund buying and softer dollar

However, strong jobs data on Friday showed the world’s largest economy created more jobs than expected last month, suggesting that the Fed may not be in a rush to cut interest rates in the near term.

The dollar was firm but sluggish in Asian trade on Monday as investors looked ahead to US inflation data.

LME aluminium was down 0.4% to $2,440, lead lost 0.6% to $2,110, nickel lost 1.3% to $17,565, tin dipped 0.2% to $28,750, and zinc fell 1.9% to $2,588.

SHFE aluminium rose 1.4% to 20,155 yuan a ton, zinc was up 2.2% to 21,730 yuan, nickel accelerated 1.6% to 135,870 yuan, tin ticked up 2.6% to 233,850 yuan, and lead added 1.7% to 16,725 yuan.