Most nonferrous metals fell on Tuesday as traders were left disappointed at the lack of fresh supportive measures from top consumer China’s key political meeting.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.4 percent at $8,506.50 per metric ton, while the most-traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rose 0.1 percent to 69,060 yuan ($9,594.86) per metric ton.
LME aluminum eased 0.3 percent to $2,227 a ton, nickel dropped 1.3 percent to $17,710, zinc shed 0.5 percent to $2,436, lead declined 0.5 percent to $2,041.50 and tin dropped 1 percent to $26,560.
SHFE nickel fell 0.4 percent to 136,730 yuan a ton, tin eased 0.1 percent to 218,300 yuan, lead was nearly flat at 15,980 yuan, while aluminum rose 0.3 percent to 19,045 yuan and zinc increased 0.3 percent to 20,645.
Investors and traders have been awaiting fresh stimulus measures from China’s top leaders to boost economic growth and metals consumption, which has been subdued after the Lunar New Year holiday.
So far, Beijing set a widely expected 5 percent growth target for 2024, dampening risk sentiment across Chinese and other Asian equities markets. The annual gathering of the country’s parliament will last until March 11.