Copper climbs on 'totally done' China-U.S. trade deal
- Copper had surpassed $6,200 a tonne for the first time in seven months on Friday before ending lower.
- The London Metal Exchange rose 0.6pc to $6,162 a tonne by 0720 GMT, after ending down 0.4pc on Friday.
- China's aluminium production rose 0.6pc in November from the previous month to 2.9 million tonnes.
U.S. exports to China will almost double over the next two years, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Sunday, as the two sides look to end the long-running tussle that has weighed on prices for industrial metals.
Copper had surpassed $6,200 a tonne for the first time in seven months on Friday before ending lower.
The metal "has pretty much hit its upside technical target, which was in the $6,180 area," Malcolm Freeman, director of Kingdom Futures, said in an email to clients.
Investors are questioning how effective the "Phase one" trade deal will be in resolving U.S.-China friction, ANZ wrote in a note. "A lack of detail about the deal appears to be fuelling the doubts," it added.
FUNDAMENTALS
COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.6pc to $6,162 a tonne by 0720 GMT, after ending down 0.4pc on Friday.
The most-traded February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up 0.1pc at 49,100 yuan ($6,975.52) a tonne.
TARIFFS: China has suspended additional tariffs on some U.S. goods that were meant to be implemented on Dec. 15, the State Council's customs tariff commission said on Sunday.
COPPER: Chile's Codelco, the world's top copper producer, expects prices to average about $2.6 to $2.8 per pound ($5,732-$6,173 per tonnes) over the medium term, its chief executive said in an interview published on Sunday.
SPREADS: The discount of cash LME copper over the three-month contract stood at $24.25 a tonne on Friday, implying weak near-term demand.
ALUMINIUM: China's aluminium production rose 0.6pc in November from the previous month to 2.9 million tonnes, official data showed on Monday, as some top producers were exempted from winter output restrictions.
OTHER METALS: The LME complex was mixed, with zinc rising 0.4pc and tin adding 0.3pc, whereas aluminium slipped 0.1pc and nickel nudged down 0.2pc. Lead was the laggard, dropping 0.8pc in London and 1.4pc in Shanghai.
NICKEL: Indonesia, the world's largest nickel ore exporter, exported 2.7 million tonnes of nickel ore worth $112.05 million in November, data from the country's statistics agency (BPS) showed on Monday.