Copper steady, China data underpins market

Copper was steady on Wednesday, supported by Chinese economic data that pointed to robust demand for industrial metals, balancing pressure from speculators booking profits after a rally this week.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange closed barely changed, up $1 to $4,920 a tonne, rebounding from an intraday low of $4,866. On Tuesday, copper hit a peak of $4,922, its highest since Aug. 2.
World markets, including metals, were also spooked by a poll on Tuesday that put US presidential candidate Donald Trump ahead of rival Hillary Clinton.
"Certainly I do expect some profit taking to come in at some point because the price has risen so much," said Capital Economics senior commodities economist Caroline Bain, adding the US Presidential race was also dragging prices lower.
Helping to bolster copper was China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for October, which expanded at the fastest pace in more than two years, adding to the view that a credit and housing boom is stabilising the world's second-largest economy.
"LME copper has come off a bit after a strong rally in reaction to the data on Tuesday, but not by much," said Amy Li, an analyst with National Australia Bank.
The economy in China, the world's biggest copper consumer, expanded at a steady 6.7 percent clip in the third quarter and looks set to hit Beijing's full-year target of 6.5 to 7 percent.
Elsewhere, zinc fell along with most other metals, retreating from a five-year high on profit-taking but it was still supported by supply-deficit fundamentals, traders said.
Zinc finished 1.6 percent weaker at $2,426 a tonne, having galloped to a half-decade high on supply concerns after Glencore shuttered its Black Star mine in Australia and as a report this week showed a 2017 deficit.
Zinc, used to galvanise steel, has been the top LME performer this year, with gains of more than 50 percent.
Tin ended down 0.4 percent at $20,775, retreating from an intraday peak of $20,895 a tonne, its highest level since September 2014. Prices for the metal are benefiting from shortage fears after stockpiles slipped to 12-year lows.
Aluminium dipped 0.5 percent to close at $1,726.50, lead shed 0.8 percent to $2,054, while nickel slipped 0.9 percent to end at $10,320.