Copper rises; set for weekly fall on fears of China's price curbs

HANOI: Copper rose on Friday in London, as the dollar weakened, but the contract was set for a weekly decline on fears that China will introduce limits on commodity prices.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.2% to $9,907 a tonne by 0519 GMT, but it was down 0.5% for the week.

The most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange declined 0.6% to 71,070 yuan ($11,128.68) a tonne.

After a week of anxious waiting, markets got the high US inflation number they dreaded, shrugged it off and moved on - leaving the US dollar under pressure, which made greenback-priced metals cheaper and more attractive to holders of other currencies.

"We expect near-term stabilization after copper and aluminium, especially, reached fresh-new highs in May," said Fitch Solutions analysts in a note.

"Nevertheless, there should be no collapse and prices will remain elevated compared to previous years, on the back of a weakening US dollar, tight fundamentals and positive investor sentiment due to the ongoing global economic recovery."

However, copper was under pressure as authorities in China, the world's top consumer of the metal, vowed to control a surge in commodities prices, as producer inflation in May hit its highest in over 12 years.