Shanghai copper hits near 2-week high on trade hopes

• Shanghai Futures Exchange's most active copper contract  ended up 0.7pc at 46,910 yuan ($6,600.44) a tonne.
• It jumped 1.7pc in the previous session, the strongest gain in nearly four weeks.

SINGAPORE: Shanghai copper rose to a near two-week peak on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump described trade talks with China as "very good", raising hopes of breakthrough in the tariff war between the world's two biggest economies.

"We had a very, very good negotiation with China," Trump told reporters after the first day of minister-level trade talks concluded.

He reiterated his plans to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Friday.

The remarks comforted markets, which have been battered by the 15-month long trade dispute between the United States and China that has slowed global growth and dimmed the demand outlook for base metals.

Shanghai Futures Exchange's most active copper contract  ended up 0.7pc at 46,910 yuan ($6,600.44) a tonne, after rising to 47,070 yuan earlier, its highest since Sept. 30.

Meanwhile, three-month London copper, widely seen as a gauge of economic health, was up 0.1pc at $5,786 a tonne by 0716 GMT.

It jumped 1.7pc in the previous session, the strongest gain in nearly four weeks.

FUNDAMENTALS

PRICES: Metals prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) were mixed as investors showed caution ahead of another day of trade talks due on Friday, with aluminium easing 0.4pc, nickel down 0.4pc, and while lead was up 0.2pc.

SHANGHAI PRICES: Base metals in Shanghai were also mixed. Aluminium fell 0.8pc, nickel was up 0.9pc, lead  down 0.1pc and tin eased 0.3pc.

ZINC PRICES: Shanghai zinc closed up 1pc at 18,975 yuan a tonne, after hitting 19,040 yuan earlier in the session, its highest in more than two weeks, while LME zinc was up 0.1pc after leaping more than 4pc in the previous session.

VEDANTA: Vedanta Resources said on Thursday it would shut its Skorpion zinc operations in Namibia from early November until the end of February 2020 due to technical problems.

"Demand for zinc in China is expected to recover slightly in Q4 ... (because of) seasonal recovery as well as the impact from the previous stimulus policies," said CRU analyst Dina Yu, adding the news about Skorpion and low LME stocks also supported prices.

ZINC STOCKS: LME zinc stocks last stood at 62,800 tonnes, having dropped by more than half since the beginning of 2019. In April, zinc stocks touched a record low at 50,425 tonnes.

NYRSTAR/TRAFIGURA: Belgium's Financial Services and Markets Authority has opened a formal investigation into zinc group Nyrstar, now majority-owned by commodities trader Trafigura.

ZIJIN: Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd , one of China's biggest gold miners, expects to miss production targets for gold, copper and zinc this year although it increased output of all three metals.