off-the-wire

METALS-Copper climbs on tightening inventory, improved China demand

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
BEIJING, April 6 (Reuters) - Copper prices rose on Thursday, supported by supply concerns amid tightening inventories and production disruptions, on the back of improving demand from top consumer China and a shaky U.S. dollar. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.7% to $8,840.50 a tonne by 0200 GMT, extending gains from the previous session as on warrant copper stocks on the exchange fell to the lowest since 2021. A court has ruled that Ecuador failed to give local communities in a highly biodiverse province their right to an environmental consultation on a joint copper mining venture by state-run ENAMI and a subsidiary of Chile's Codelco, lawyers for the communities said on Wednesday, and the project must be suspended. China's services activity in March revved up at the quickest pace in 2-1/2 years on robust new orders and job creation and a consumption-led post-COVID recovery, a private-sector survey showed on Thursday.


Most other metals in London also rebounded. LME zinc recovered 0.9% to $2,815, from a five-month low, aluminium advanced 1.2% at $2,362 a tonne, tin rose 1.5% to $24,600, lead was up 0.4% to $2,118, while nickel dipped 0.2% to $22,675. Also supporting the market was a subdued U.S. dollar , making the greenback-priced commodity more attractive for non-dollar holders to buy. The dollar gained slightly on Thursday but hasn't strayed too far from a recent two-month low as traders weighed how pivotal U.S. jobs data coming out during a holiday weekend will impact Federal Reserve policy. The most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 0.8% to 68,620 yuan ($9,975.87) a tonne. SHFE aluminium eased 0.7% to 18,585 yuan, zinc fell 2% to 22,070 yuan, tin lost 4.2% to 196,580 yuan, and nickel shed 3% to 172,940 yuan a tonne, while lead added 0.2% to 15,240 yuan. SHFE will lower margin requirements and trading limits for base metals after the closing of trading on Thursday. For the top stories in metals and other news, click or ($1 = 6.8786 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Dominique Patton; Editing by Varun H K)


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