Copper futures slip

LONDON: Copper prices fell on Friday as surging Covid-19 levels and lockdowns in China hit demand and the dollar strengthened, making metals costlier for buyers with other currencies.

Measures by China, the biggest metals consumer, to support its economy and property sector did provide support, however. At 1700 GMT, benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.5% at $8,004 a tonne.

Copper has fallen 25% from a high in March as growth in China and elsewhere slowed.

The global copper market was in deficit in the first nine months of this year and copper producer Codelco said the trade would be undersupplied by millions of tonnes in the coming decade.