LONDON: Copper was supported on Monday by expectations that the global interest rate tightening cycle is close to ending, but worries about demand in top consumer China and rising inventories in exchange warehouses weighed on sentiment.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was flat at $8,407 a metric ton at 1004 GMT. It has mostly traded in a narrow range over the past month.
Five central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is expected to leave interest rates on hold at Wednesday’s meeting, and the Bank of England are due to meet this week.
Fears that China’s economy had yet to bottom were stoked by data showing the slump in its property sector worsened in August, with deepening falls in new home prices, property investment and sales.
“There isn’t much good news coming out of China, doesn’t bode well for copper,” a metals trader said, adding that the market was also concerned about the global macro picture. “Copper inventories are starting to pile up.”
Copper edges up on China data but firmer dollar caps gains
Copper stocks in LME approved warehouses at 147,575 tons have climbed more than 170% since the middle of July.
Lack of concern about copper supplies on the LME system can be seen in the discount or contango for the cash contract against the three-month forward, at a one-month high of $55 a ton.
On the technical front, strong support for copper is around $8,395 a ton where the 100-day moving average currently sits.
Elsewhere, large deliveries of lead to LME warehouses narrowed the premium for the cash over the three-month contract to $20 a ton from levels near $63 earlier in September.
Three-month lead was down 1.3% at $2,232.
Industrial metals markets are keeping an eye on the dollar’s exchange rate against the yuan, which influences Chinese demand for industrial metals. A weaker U.S. currency could potentially boost demand demand for dollar-priced metals.
In other metals, aluminium rose 0.6% at $8,410, zin gained 0.3% to $2,528, tin added 1.2% to $26,005 and nickel advanced 0.4% to $19,995.
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