Copper gains

LONDON: Copper prices rose on Friday, supported by signs of easing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing and ignoring, for now, lower copper imports by top metals consumer China.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.6 percent at USD10,744 a metric ton in official open-outcry trading, facing resistance from the 21-day moving average at USD10,776.

The metal used in power and construction has lost 4percent since worries about tighter global supply pushed it to a record high of USD11,200 on October 29.

“Copper demand is still growing, but not as strongly as one would expect as of last month,” said Dan Smith, managing director of Commodity Market Analytics.