BEIJING- Prices of copper, often used as an economic parameter, drifted lower on Wednesday as investors anticipated another aggressive interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dipped 0.4 percent to $7,730 a ton while the most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 0.1 percent at 62,400 yuan ($8,872.46) a ton.
The Fed started a two-day meeting on Tuesday, with rate futures traders pricing in an 83 percent chance of a 75 basis-point hike and a 17 percent probability of a 100 bps raise.
The US dollar strengthened to a near two-decade high on Tuesday, making it more expensive for holders of other currencies to buy greenback-priced commodities.
Some metals, however, were supported by expectations of strengthening demand in China thanks to strong operation rates among end-user manufacturers in September and October.
China’s commercial hub of Shanghai on Tuesday announced eight infrastructure projects with a total investment of 1.8 trillion yuan, to revive a COVID-impacted economy.
ShFE nickel gained 0.8 percent to 195,980 yuan a ton, tin rose 2 percent to 181,260 yuan a ton, while aluminum lost 1.2 percent to 18,490 yuan a ton, following data on Tuesday that showed global primary aluminum output rose 3.5 percent in August to 5.89 million tons.
LME aluminum slid 0.2 percent to $2,241 a ton, lead was down 0.2 percent to $1,877 a ton, zinc declined 0.2 percent to $3,121.50 a ton.
