Copper prices in London rebounded on Thursday from a six-week low hit in the previous session as a weaker dollar made greenback-priced metals cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.5% to $8,305 per metric ton by 0556 GMT, while the most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.3% to 67,710 yuan ($9,409.52) a ton.
The dollar index eased from a one-month peak versus major peers.
However, copper is still on track for the fourth straight week of losses on both bourses, weighed down by a strong dollar as bets of US rate cuts receded.
On the COMEX, short positions on copper shot up in the first week of 2024 and money managers turned net short on copper by Jan. 9 for the first time since Nov. 14 last year, latest data showed.
“The dollar’s upside is largely driven by weakening expectations of an early cut from the Fed this year,” broker Sucden Financial said in a note.
“We expect this narrative to continue into Q2 2024, keeping base metals trading at the lower end of recent ranges,” they added.
LME aluminium rose 0.2% to $2,183 a ton, zinc was flat at $2,466, while nickel eased 0.3% to $16,030, lead eased 0.2% to $2,059, and tin edged down 0.1% at $25,200.
SHFE aluminium eased 0.6% to 18,765 yuan a ton, nickel shed 0.4% to 127,110 yuan, zinc dropped 2% to 20,785 yuan, lead dipped 0.1% to 16,195 yuan and tin edged down 0.1% at 213,060 yuan.
China’s imports of aluminium jumped 28% to 3.06 million tons in 2023, customs data showed, on robust demand in the metal’s biggest consumer market.
The country imported 1.06 million tons of primary aluminium from Russia in the first 11 months of 2023, soaring 178.3% from a year earlier, the data showed.
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