LONDON: Copper prices touched a four-week high on Friday on optimism about an economic rebound in top consumer China, but gains were capped after the dollar strengthened on firm US jobs data.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.9% at $8,502 per metric ton at 1632 GMT after hitting $8,599, the highest level since Aug. 4. It has climbed 3.6% since Aug. 17.
US nonfarm payrolls increased by 187,000 jobs last month to beat analysts’ forecast of 170,000 jobs, data showed on Friday.
The dollar index erased earlier losses and strengthened due to the strong labour market, despite some signs of deterioration.
A firmer dollar makes commodities priced in the US currency more expensive for buyers using other currencies.
The jump in prices earlier in the session was driven by China announcing measures to support its property market and as data showed expansion in China’s manufacturing sector.
“The rally in prices this morning is being driven by optimism that China’s demand for metals is likely to have reached a bottom,” Natalie Scott-Gray, a base metals analyst with StoneX told Reuters.
Scott-Gray cited surveys of purchasing managers (PMIs) in China’s dominant manufacturing sector.
“The stand out point for me is that PMI manufacturing new orders (a proxy for domestic demand) rose into expansionary territory for the first time since March 2023.”
China’s factory activity surprisingly returned to expansion in August with supply, domestic demand and employment improving, suggesting official efforts to revive growth might be having some effect.
Beijing has issued a raft of measures to revive its crisis-hit property market, the latest including lowering the existing mortgage rate for first-time home buyers and the down payment ratio in some cities.
Elsewhere, lead the strongest performer rose to an eight-month high of $2,301 a ton on speculative buying. It was last up 1.4% at $2,250.
Worries about supplies of the battery metal on the LME market have created a premium or backwardation for the cash lead contract over the three-month. The premium closed at a two-month high of $28.40 a ton on Thursday.
Aluminium gained 1.4% to $2,239.5, tin added 2% to $25,900, zinc moved up 2.2% to $2,484.5, and nickel rose 3.9% to $21,085.
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