Copper held steady on Wednesday, hovering near a five-week peak scaled in the previous session, buoyed by a weaker US dollar and expectations of more stimulus measures in top consumer China.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was flat at $8,234 a metric ton by 0404 GMT, after hitting its highest since Oct. 2 on Tuesday.
The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.5% to 67,750 yuan ($9,359.80) a ton.
The dollar stuttered at broadly lower levels after slumping overnight.
A weaker greenback makes dollar-priced commodities less expensive for holders of other currencies.
“There was some profit taking seen as LME and SHFE opened this morning, but the elevated prices stayed supported as China retail sales beat expectations,” a Singapore-based metals trader said.
“I think base metals can hold their ground amidst the improving macro environment and more fresh longs should be built up over the coming weeks.”
China’s October economic activity perked up as industrial output grew at a faster pace and retail sales growth beat expectations.
However, China’s property sales fell at a faster pace in October and investment in real estate slumped, official data showed, suggesting the crisis-hit sector is yet to emerge from its decline.
Copper supported ahead of US inflation data
The real estate sector is a major contributor to China’s metals consumption.
Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday China plans to provide at least 1 trillion yuan of low-cost financing to the nation’s urban village renovation and affordable housing programs, citing people familiar with the matter.
LME aluminium gained 0.3% to $2,236.50 a ton, nickel fell 0.5% to $17,405, zinc added 0.6% to $2,616.50, lead edged up 0.1% at $2,204 and tin was flat at $25,210.
SHFE aluminium gained 0.5% to 19,040 yuan a ton, nickel was up 0.6% at 139,300 yuan, zinc gained 1.6% to 21,915 yuan, lead gained 0.2% to 16,495 yuan and tin was steady at 214,050 yuan.
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