BEIJING: London copper prices rose for the fourth session in five on Thursday, as a weaker dollar enabled the metal to hold gains made from optimism over U.S.-China trade talks.
A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated metals cheaper for holders of other currencies and can support prices.
However, prices in top consumer China, which reported more disappointing factory data on Thursday, failed to sustain the momentum, with Shanghai copper slipping 0.1 percent.
Recent transactions in the refined and scrap copper markets have been ordinary, consistent with the off-season, and "fundamentals cannot support the copper price," Jinrui Futures wrote in a note.
Instead, prices for copper, an economic bellwether, will move higher on improving macro sentiment and lower on weakening sentiment, the Chinese brokerage added.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.3 percent at $5,978 a tonne, as of 0716 GMT. The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed down 0.1 percent at 47,510 yuan ($6,996.54) a tonne.
* TRADE: China's commerce ministry said trade talks with the
United States this week were extensive and detailed, and established a foundation for the resolution of each others' concerns. "This would normally have been enough to encourage metals buyers but the news was rather offset by the Chinese PPI and CPI numbers falling short of forecasts," Malcolm Freeman of Kingdom Futures wrote in a note.
* CHINA: China's producer price index (PPI) in December rose at its slowest pace in more than two years.
* USD: The dollar weakened versus major peers due to growing expectations the Federal Reserve will pause its rate tightening cycle this year.
* OTHER METALS: The LME complex was higher across the board, with aluminium, nickel, lead and tin adding around 0.3 percent each.
* TIN: The metal closed above $20,000 a tonne for the first time since late June on Wednesday. "The price rise is likely to have been triggered by concerns about supply, for Indonesia - the world's largest tin exporter - has been exporting considerably less tin since October," Commerzbank said in a note.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares edged up on Thursday as stimulus expectations and a rise in the yuan helped Chinese equities erase early losses, while markets awaited more news on U.S.-China trade talks amid hopes an all-out trade war can be averted.
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