(Updates prices)
March 28 (Reuters) - Copper held ground in Asian trading
hours on Tuesday, as a deal to buy the assets of stricken U.S.
lender Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) spurred risk appetite, despite
concerns about tepid Chinese demand.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was
up 0.2% at $8,978 a tonne, as of 0711 GMT, following a 0.5% gain
in the previous session.
The most-traded May copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended daytime trade 0.2% higher at 69,320 yuan a tonne.
"Copper mirrored gains across the commodities amid the
improved risk appetite, but the gains were limited by lacklustre
demand in China," ANZ commodities strategists said in a note.
Regional U.S. lender First Citizens BancShares scooped up
the assets of SVB on Monday, triggering a relief rally in
financial markets worried about the banking sector turmoil. Downstream copper demand in top metals consumer China,
meanwhile, dropped slightly last week due to "overseas macro
factors" and rising prices, Huatai Futures analysts said in a
note.
Lending support to greenback-priced metals, the U.S. dollar slid for a second day against major peers on Tuesday as
fears of a full-blown banking crisis eased.
In other metals, LME aluminium was up 0.1% at $2,366
a tonne, zinc shed 0.4% to $2,900.50, while nickel gained 0.1% to $23,870. Lead added 0.1% at
$2,134, while tin advanced 0.3% to $25,500.
In Shanghai, aluminium rose 1.3% to 18,690 yuan a
tonne, zinc climbed 0.3% to 22,575 yuan, nickel advanced 0.6% to 182,500 yuan, lead edged up
0.1% to 15,420 yuan and tin gained 2.2% to 204,920 yuan.
For the top stories in metals and other news, click or ($1 = 6.8723 yuan)
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Janane
Venkatraman and Louise Heavens)
LME price overview COMEX copper futures All metals news All commodities news Foreign exchange rates SPEED GUIDES ))
