BEIJING, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Copper prices dipped on
Friday after data showed demand in top consumer China was yet to
pick up, while looming global recession risks also weighed on
investors' sentiment.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was
down 0.4% at $8,947.50 a tonne by 0209 GMT, while the
most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures
Exchange nudged 0.2% down to 68,340 yuan ($10,062.43) a
tonne.
China's January factory gate prices fell more than expected,
suggesting that flashes of domestic demand that had stoked
consumer prices after the zero-COVID policy ended were not
strong enough to rekindle upstream sectors. Meanwhile, a report on Thursday showing the number of
Americans claiming unemployment benefits increased more than
expected last week, which reignited recession fears. On the supply side, China's MMG Ltd said its Las
Bambas copper mine in Peru was able to secure critical supplies,
enabling it to continue production at a reduced rate after road
blockades prevented arrival of key raw materials. LME aluminium lost 0.7% to $2,482 a tonne, tin shed 0.9% to $27,505 a tonne, zinc added 0.2% to
$3,128 a tonne, and lead moved 0.3% down to $2,119 a
tonne.
SHFE aluminium fell 1.5% to 18,670 yuan a tonne, zinc was down 0.4% to 23,235 yuan a tonne, tin decreased 0.2% to 218,320 yuan a tonne, while lead gained 0.9% to 15,380 yuan a tonne.
SHFE nickel jumped 3.6% to 218,080 yuan a tonne,
followed a rise of 6.4% of LME nickel in the previous
session.
Global commodity trader Trafigura said on Thursday it booked
a $577 million charge in the first half of 2023, after
discovering that some nickel cargoes it received did not contain
the metal in a case of "systematic fraud". For the top stories in metals and other news, click or ($1 = 6.7916 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Siyi Liu and Dominique Patton; editing by
Uttaresh.V)
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