Copper pushes towards two-year highs as dollar falls further

LONDON: Copper prices rose for a fifth day on Friday as Joe Biden took a narrow US election lead over President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia and the dollar continued to weaken.

Investors are betting that Democrat Biden will win the US presidency but Republicans will control the Senate, blocking government borrowing and potentially paving the way for more central bank stimulus.

Such reasoning has sparked a stock market rally and put the dollar on track for its worst week since March, making metals cheaper for buyers outside the United States.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 1.4% at $6,946.50 a tonne in official trading. It is up about 3.5% this week and pushing towards October's 28-month peak of $7,034.

"The copper market looks rather strong from a fundamental point of view," said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.

"The only economy that's not stuck in the coronvarus crisis is China, the biggest copper consumer, and you have many producer countries struggling with rising infections."

US ELECTION: Georgia and several other undecided states continue to count ballots.

GLOBAL ECONOMY: China's foreign trade is expected to have grown strongly in October, German industrial output rose less than expected in September and US employers hired the fewest workers for five months in October.

FED: The US Federal Reserve kept its loose monetary policy intact on Thursday and pledged again to do whatever it can to sustain US economic recovery.

PREMIUMS: Chinese Yangshan copper import premiums fell to $48 a tonne, their lowest since May 2019, suggesting lower demand for overseas metal.

CHILE: Copper production costs at mines in Chile fell 17% in the first half of 2020, the mining ministry said.

OTHER METALS: LME aluminium was up 0.3% at $1,904 a tonne, zinc rose 0.3% to $2,624, nickel was flat at $15,564, lead gained 0.4% to $1,854.50 and tin was up 0.8% at $18,380.

All were on track for weekly gains.