BEIJING: Copper prices fell on Thursday, dragged down by a stronger US dollar after hawkish minutes of the Federal Reserve’s meeting and weakening demand in top consumer China.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.9% to $10,325 per metric ton by 0133 GMT, while the most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) fell 4% to 83,230 yuan ($11,492.05) a ton.
The dollar hovered near a one-week high on Thursday following its best day this month against major peers after minutes of the last Fed meeting revealed a willingness to raise interest rates among some officials.
A stronger dollar makes it more expensive to buy the greenback-priced commodity. Also weighing on metals was the waning demand in China, as large price rises this year hit copper-user consumption and pushed inventories higher. Other base metals trended lower.
LME aluminium slid 0.2% to $2,631 a ton, nickel dropped 1.1% to $20,145, zinc shed 0.6% to $3,043, tin was little moved at $33,500, and lead was 0.6% lower to $2,301.
SHFE aluminium lost 2.2% to 20,910 yuan a ton, zinc dropped 2% to 24,395 yuan, tin moved 2.2% to 272,790 yuan, lead slid 0.6% to 18,440 yuan, and nickel was down 3.6% to 152,080 yuan.
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