Markets

London copper sags as dollar strengthens on Turkish crisis

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After hitting a record low of 7.24 against the dollar early on Monday, Turkey's lira found some support after Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said the government has drafted an economic action plan to ease investor concerns while the banking watchdog said it limited swap transactions.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.8 percent at $6,142 a tonne by 0707 GMT, slipping for a second session in a row. The most-traded copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped 0.2 percent to end at 49,730 yuan ($7,239) a tonne.

"While Turkey does not reflect any endemic risk among emerging markets, there could still be some sentiment spillovers into emerging market currencies and risky assets in the near term," Mizuho Bank said in a note.

However, "with global growth already slow on a structural basis, a recession in Turkey could bite," the bank said.

US TARIFFS: US President Donald Trump intensified his spat with Turkey by imposing higher tariffs on aluminium and steel imports, putting unprecedented economic pressure on a NATO ally and deepening turmoil in Turkish financial markets.

CHILE STRIKE: The main union at Chile's Caserones copper mine said on Sunday that 98.5 percent of its workers had voted to reject a final offer from mine operator Lumina Copper during mediation. The union said that a strike had been agreed and it would begin on Tuesday at 8am.

EL TENIENTE: Four of the five labour unions representing workers at the El Teniente copper mine in Chile have accepted the latest contract offer from state mining company Codelco.

ZINC AND ALUMINIUM: LME zinc hit its lowest since July 30 at $2,524 a tonne, before paring losses to trade at $2,541.50, down 0.2 percent from Friday. Shanghai zinc slid 1.4 percent to settle at 21,240 yuan. LME aluminium dropped 0.8 percent to $2,088 a tonne and Shanghai aluminium was nearly flat at 14,690 yuan.

Copyright Reuters, 2018