The most-traded February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) closed up 0.4 percent at 54,500 yuan ($8,289.86) a tonne on Friday as the dollar strengthened slightly and wage agreements at mines in Chile eased concerns about supply disruptions in the world's top producer of the metal.
A rising US currency makes dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for non-US firms but copper remains on course for a weekly gain of 2.7 percent and a close above $7,000 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange (LME) before the two-day Christmas holiday next week.
"Heading into next year, a case can be made for a relatively higher trading range for copper compared to what we saw in 2017," INTL FCStone said in its 2018 LME price outlook, noting that key labour negotiations "could potentially impact a substantial amount of metal." ShFE aluminium ended down 0.4 percent.
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