BEIJING: London copper prices moved higher on Friday as the dollar weakened, making metals cheaper for holders of other currencies, while investors welcomed signs that talks to resolve the U.S.-China trade row were moving to the next level.
Copper and other widely-used dollar-denominated industrial metals are "particularly sensitive to dollar weakness" and an improved economic outlook, Argonaut Securities said in a note.
Furthermore, global copper supply is unlikely to rise and may decline slightly in 2019, the brokerage added, noting that the reduced production from the Grasberg mine in Indonesia accounted for more than 2 percent of global copper output.
"This change in market balance is supportive to the copper price, in our view," Argonaut said. Grasberg will produce around 1.2 million tonnes of copper concentrate this year, compared with 2.1 million tonnes in 2018, according to Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.
FUNDAMENTALS
* COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.8 percent at $5,975.50 a tonne, as of 0721 GMT. It is on course to post a 1 percent gain in the first full trading week of 2019.
* SHFE COPPER: The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed down 0.5 percent at 47,320 yuan ($7,011.10) a tonne.
* TRADE: U.S. officials expect China's top trade negotiator to visit Washington this month, signalling that higher-level discussions are likely to follow this week's talks with mid-level officials in Beijing.
* ZINC: China's refined zinc production saw its steepest plunge since 2013 last year amid tight raw material supply, longer maintenance periods and the relocation of the country's top smelter, according to research house Antaike.
* OTHER METALS: Nickel was the biggest gainer as the
LME complex rose across the board. The metal used to make stainless steel rose as much as 1.2 percent to $11,395 a tonne, its highest since Dec. 4, while tin ticked higher for a fifth day and struck a fresh six-month high of $20,275.
* TIN: New year starts with a bang for the tin market: Andy Home
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian stocks inched up to five-week highs on Friday, after Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the Federal Reserve will be patient about raising interest rates.
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