BEIJING- Prices of base metals fell on Monday as protests in several Chinese cities against the country’s strict COVID-19 curbs sparked uncertainty and dampened investor sentiment.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 1.9 percent at $7,854 a ton, while the most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange shed 1.3 percent to 64,150 yuan ($8,875.82) a ton.
Hundreds of demonstrators and police clashed in Shanghai on Sunday night as protests over China’s stringent COVID curbs flared for a third day and spread to several cities in the wake of a deadly fire in the country’s far west.
The protests raised worries about management of the virus in the world’s second-largest economy and sent Asian stocks lower in early trade on Monday. The protests also led investors towards the safe-haven US dollar.
A stronger greenback makes it more expensive for non-dollar holders to buy dollar-priced commodities.
China’s industrial firms saw overall profits decline further in the January-October period as COVID-19 outbreaks flared up and cities imposed new virus curbs, including targeted lockdowns, dampening economic activity.
Industrial profits fell 3.0 percent in the first 10 months of 2022 from a year earlier. That compared with a 2.3 percent drop for January-September, National Bureau of Statistics data released on Sunday showed.
