Copper prices were on track for their biggest weekly drop in four weeks, after a firmer dollar and rising inventories pressured prices. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.5% at $8,283.50 per metric ton by 0304 GMT.
On a weekly basis, the contract declined 2.6%, the worst weekly performance since Aug. 11.
The most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.5% to 68,800 yuan ($9,369.47) a ton. The contract was also set for a weekly decline.
The dollar was headed for its longest weekly winning streak in nine years, making greenback-priced metals more expensive to holders of other currencies.
Copper inventories in LME-registered warehouses piled up to their highest level since October 2022 to 133,850 tons. Weak Chinese economic data and property woes continued to dampen risk sentiment, though expectations of further policy support cushioned the fall in metal prices.
LME aluminium shed 0.6% to $2,182 a ton, nickel dropped 1.1% to $20,255, zinc fell 1% to $2,454, lead was down 0.9% at $2,210.50 and tin decreased 0.7% to $25,895.
Tin was the only contract across the base metals on the LME rising on a weekly basis and on track for its third straight weekly increase, partly helped by supply worries from Myanmar.
SHFE aluminium fell 0.6% to 19,045 yuan a ton, nickel dropped 1.7% to 166,150 yuan, zinc eased 0.2% to 21,310 yuan, tin shed 1.3% to 219,160 yuan while lead rose 0.3% to 16,975 yuan.
SHFE lead is set for its fourth straight weekly increase, contrasting LME lead that is down 1.6% week-on-week, the biggest weekly fall since July 7.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.