LONDON: Copper prices edged lower on Thursday, weighed down by lacklustre risk appetite amid uncertainty about stimulus in top metals consumer China.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) slipped 0.1% to $9,078 per metric ton by 1122 GMT.
“Copper is range-bound because people have exited, there’s no risk appetite,” said Alastair Munro, senior base metals strategist at broker Marex.
LME copper has shed 10% since touching a four-month peak on Sept. 30, partly due to disappointment about the lack of aggressive fiscal stimulus measures by China to boost its sluggish economy.
Investors are hoping to hear more details from the Central Economic Work Conference later this month, where top leaders will set economic growth targets and plan the agenda for next year.
The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) closed 0.3% down at 74,530 yuan ($10,258.77) a ton.
Also pressuring the market is concern about the impact of tariffs proposed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and any retaliatory action from Beijing.
Copper prices slide under pressure from stronger dollar
“A (potential) trade war between the U.S. and China comes at a time of already moribund growth in the latter, with trade restrictions only to weaken demand further,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial markets analyst at Capital.com.
LME aluminium declined 0.4% to $2,637 a ton, having been hit by producer selling when it approaches the $2,700 area, Munro said.
“Some of the producers are having to lock in power hedges so they buy the power and sell the metal against it,” he said.
Aluminium is the most power-intensive metal to produce.
LME lead rose 0.2% to $2,090.50 a ton after touching $2,099, the strongest since Oct. 17 on short-covering.
LME nickel fell 0.8% to $15,975, zinc was up 0.3% at $3,108.50 and tin added 0.6% to $29,195.
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