Copper prices buoyed by bargain hunters

LONDON: Copper prices ticked higher on Friday as some investors regarded the recent downturn as a buying opportunity, though a firmer dollar and uncertainty over US data capped gains.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) edged up 0.02% to $9,323.50 a tonne in official trading after dropping by about 9% in June.

"There's been a cooling down in recent weeks, but that's a bit overdone. This is potentially a good bargain-hunting opportunity and we've seen a bit more interest in recent days with these dips," said Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at WisdomTree, a provider of exchange-traded funds.

"We're in the midst of an economic recovery that's largely fuelled by huge monetary growth and strong fiscal stimulus, which is infrastructure focused and metals intensive."

The most-traded August copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed 0.7% down at 68,260 yuan ($10,531.84) a tonne for a 0.9% decline over the week.

Traders were on edge ahead of US non-farm payrolls data, which is expected to show that job growth picked up in June.

The Yangshan copper premium fell to $21.50 a tonne, hovering around its lowest since February 2016, indicating subdued demand for imported metal.

Global copper smelting activity slipped in June as Chinese plants closed for maintenance, having rebounded the previous month, data from satellite surveillance of copper plants showed.

The dollar hit a three-month high against other major currencies, making metals priced in the US unit more expensive for holders of other currencies.

LME aluminium rose 0.9% to $2,535 a tonne, zinc shed 0.2% to $2,932, lead added 0.9% to $2,288.50, nickel firmed 0.2% to $18,133 and tin was up 0.3% at $31,387.