Prices of copper moved in small ranges on Wednesday amid caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s rate decision expected later in the day, while rising inventories capped any strong gains.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.3 percent to $8,313 per metric ton, while the most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange declined 0.4 percent to 68,740 yuan ($9,417.47) a ton.
LME copper inventories rose to the highest since May 2022 at 149,600 tons. SHFE inventories were at the highest since July 21.
“It is the monthly futures expiry week in LME. Surplus inventories have been showing up…
This might keep metal prices under pressure,” said Sandeep Daga, a director at metals analysis company Metal Intelligence Centre.
The dollar might strengthen amid expectations of higher-for-longer US rates, which would add more pressure to metal prices, Daga added.
A firm dollar makes greenback-priced metals more expensive to holders of other currencies.
LME aluminum edged up 0.7 percent to $2,231.50 a ton, nickel was almost flat at $19,920, lead was nearly unchanged at $2,219.50, zinc rose 0.6 percent to $2,513.50 and tin fell 0.8 percent to $25,890.
SHFE aluminum rose 0.2 percent to 19,310 yuan a ton, zinc dropped 0.8 percent to 21,605 yuan, nickel rose 1.3 percent to 163,540 yuan, lead was 0.6 percent higher at 17,325 yuan and tin climbed 0.6 percent to 221,470 yuan. – Reuters
