China property, demand jitters weigh on copper prices

LONDON: Copper prices retreated on Monday as the market fretted about demand in top consumer China and rising inventories in London Metal Exchange-registered warehouses, while a softer dollar limited losses.

Benchmark copper on the LME was down 0.7% at $8,438 a metric ton by 1031 GMT. Prices of the industrial metal touched a four-week high of $8,599 on Friday after a survey showed China’s factory activity expanded in August.

However, a slowdown in China’s housing market is expected to remain a headwind for industrial metals for some time.

“China’s property sector is going to have a longer term negative impact on industrial metals,” said Dan Smith, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading.

“But Chinese imports for some metals have been quite strong which suggests demand is holding up.”

Copper prices climb as China stimulus lifts demand outlook

Stocks of copper in LME warehouses at 107,425 tons are nearly double the levels seen in the middle of July and at their highest since October last year.

Growing expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve could be at the end of its monetary tightening cycle was weighing on the U.S. currency, which - when it falls - makes dollar-priced metals cheaper for holders of other currencies.

On the technical front, copper faces upside resistance around $8,590, where the 200-day moving average currently sits. Strong support comes in at $8,430-$8,440, between the 50-day and 100-day moving averages.

Elsewhere, large holdings of LME warrants and cash contracts have fueled worries about the availability of lead on the LME market.

This can be seen in the premium for the cash lead contract over the three-month contract at $27.50 a ton, close to the two-month high of $28.40 hit last week.

Three-month lead was last down 1.5% at $2,216 a ton.

In other metals, aluminium ceded 1% to $2,213, zinc slipped 0.1% to $2,484, tin retreated 0.3% to $25,740 and nickel fell 1.1% to $20,860.

Nickel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose to 175,740 yuan, their highest in nearly four months, on concerns about supplies after top exporter Indonesia delayed issuing mining quotas.