Copper recovers as dollar slips, but China worries weigh

Copper prices rose on Friday as the dollar slipped, but gains were capped by weak investment and industrial production data from top consumer China fuelling worries about demand.
Traders said the market was waiting to hear more on Donald Trump's plans for the US economy after his inauguration as President.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange closed 0.2 percent up at $5,748 a tonne but is on course for its first weekly loss since before the Christmas break.
The dollar lost ground after New York opened, making commodities priced in the currency cheaper for non-US buyers, potentially boosting demand.
However, higher US interest rates later this year are expected to send the dollar above recent highs. "The dollar will be key for metals, which have been remarkably resilient, partially driven by expectations for the rebuilding of America by Donald Trump," said SP Angel analyst John Meyer. "But at some stage reality must set in.
US infrastructure spending is not widely expected to be a game changer for industrial metals demand.
China, which accounts for about half of global demand for industrial metals, will remain the main focus this year.
Its Lunar New Year holiday, starting January 27, is expected to subdue demand and manufacturing activity this month and next as factories close, sometimes for two to three weeks.
Analysts say that above-consensus Chinese economic growth of 6.8 percent in the final quarter of last year will support sentiment but also note that investment and industrial production data for December suggest slower demand growth.
"Growth in fixed-asset investment, which is a major source of metals demand and includes sectors such as infrastructure, manufacturing and property, slowed," Julius Baer analysts said in a note.
"Most notably, growth in infrastructure investment dropped to just over 5 percent after peaking at more than 20 percent last summer ... Weakness in property is looming, however, as regulation was tightened last year and oversupply in many lower-tier cities persists." Three-month aluminium closed with a 1 percent gain at $1,845 a tonne, having earlier touched a 20-month high of $1,852.50 on talk that China might have to cut smelting capacity because of environmental concerns.
Zinc closed 0.1 percent down at $2,767, lead rose 1.1 percent to $2,309 and nickel ended 2.3 percent lower at $9,700.
Tin slid 2.3 percent to $20,210, up from an earlier two-month low of $20,020. Traders said tin was coming under pressure from expectations of higher supplies and rising stocks in LME-approved warehouses.