LONDON: Copper slipped on Friday as speculators bet a rally had extended too far with demand in top consumer China likely to struggle and after new coronavirus cases in the United States hit record levels.
Copper has been the top gainer on the London Metal Exchange in recent months, rebounding 40% from late March to a peak of more than five months on Thursday, partly on concern about supply from top producer Chile.
"The technical indicators are flashing overbought conditions and there are signals that global growth is stalling after the strong recovery we've had," said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, partner at consultancy T-Commodity in Milan.
The relative strength index, a key indicator for investors relying on chart signals, rose to about 75 on Thursday, over the 70 level regarded as indicating a potential reversal.
Three-month LME copper was down 0.8% at $6,022.50 a tonne by 1600 GMT after touching $6,120 on Thursday, its highest since Jan. 22.
Copper inventories in warehouses tracked by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose for the first time in seven weeks.
Nickel hit the highest since Feb. 18 at $13,130 a tonne after Shanghai stainless steel futures hit a six-week high.
Nickel, mainly used in the production of stainless steel, pared gains to $12,995, up 0.4%. LME aluminium gave up 0.3% to $1,616 a tonne, zinc shed 0.4% to $2,037, lead rose 0.3% to $1,788 and tin added 0.5% to $16,910.
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