Copper prices fell on Thursday as a surprise interest rate hike by the Bank of Canada fuelled fears of hawkish central banks, while investors and traders cautiously awaited top consumer China to roll out further stimulus measures.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.3% at $8,271.50 a tonne by 0452 GMT, while the most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange eased 0.2% to 66,540 yuan a tonne.
LME aluminium dipped 0.2% to $2,214 a tonne, nickel eased 1.3% to $21,150 a tonne, zinc declined 1.2% to $2,369.50 a tonne, lead fell 0.5% to $2,035 a tonne and tin dropped 1.1% to $25,375 a tonne.
SHFE nickel shed 0.5% to 159,830 yuan a tonne, tin lost 1.7% to 205,830 yuan a tonne while aluminium rose 0.3% to 18,165 yuan a tonne, zinc increased 1% to 19,675 yuan a tonne and lead advanced 0.3% to 15,175 yuan a tonne.
Canada and Australia surprised the markets by hiking their interest rates, while markets are now pricing in a higher chance of the Federal Reserve could stay hawkish in next week meeting and that US rates could stay higher for longer.
Copper loses steam on economic worries, technical signals
A higher interest rate environment could cause global economic growth to slow down and potentially hurt demand for metals.
In China, banks cutting rates and hopes of stimulus measures for the troubled property sector have been supporting metals prices in recent sessions, although the wait for official announcements have deflated the hype in metals prices.
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