Copper ends November lower on concerns over slowing Chinese demand

Copper ended November down more than 1 percent on concerns over slowing demand from China, though the metal held steady into the close on Thursday on the back of upbeat manufacturing data from the world's largest metals consumer. Growth in Chinese manufacturing unexpectedly picked up this month despite a crackdown on air pollution and a cooling property market, the official Purchasing Managers' Index showed.
"The official PMIs came out overnight slightly higher than consensus, so the market has taken that very well," Danske Bank analyst Jens Pedersen said. "There has been some uncertainty over whether growth in China would hold up or not, so that is why the market is trading on these key figures." Nickel has been the biggest faller among industrial metals this month, tumbling more than 9 percent after October's sharp rally as traders bet that hopes for rising electric vehicle demand had become overstretched.
Three-month London Metal Exchange copper closed at $6,762 a tonne, little changed from the previous day but down 1.2 percent overall in November. Copper stocks held in LME warehouses fell another 3,200 tonnes, data showed on Thursday, taking them to their lowest since July 2016 at 188,525 tonnes.
LME copper has tested resistance at $6,792 after stabilising around a support zone of $6,713-$6,737 a tonne, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. A break above here could spark a rise to $6,847. Workers at Southern Copper Corp in Peru said they completed a ninth day of a strike on Wednesday. A union at Teck Resources' Quebrada Blanca copper mine rejected a contract offer from the Canadian miner, increasing the likelihood of a strike.
LME nickel ended the day down 3.6 percent at $11,110 a tonne, a seven-week low. LME aluminium finished down 1 percent at $2,048 a tonne, off an earlier 3-1/2 month low of $2,039. It fell 5.2 percent in November, its biggest monthly loss since May last year, but is still on track for its biggest annual rally since 2009. LME zinc closed little changed at $3,156 a tonne, while lead finished up 1.4 percent at $2,470. In November, zinc fell 3.5 percent and lead slipped 2.3 percent. LME tin ended the day up 0.4 percent at $19,600, to take its gain for the month to 1.2 percent.