London- Copper prices rose on Friday as disappointing US October jobs gain has firmed up chances of Federal Reserve interest-rate cut next week to weaken the dollar.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.5 percent to $9,554.5 per metric ton.
The industrial metals prices were supported by a weaker dollar, which makes greenback priced metals cheaper for holders of foreign currencies.
The dollar erased early gains to trade lower after US nonfarm payrolls gains fell short of expectations amid disruptions from hurricanes and strikes by aerospace factory workers in October.
A soft labor market made traders pricing about a 99 percent chance of a quarter-point interest-rate cut for US central bank meeting on Nov. 7, compared to 92 percent before.
A lower interest rate discourage foreign investments to pressure the dollar.
Trading volumes in industrial metals overall remained thin with market taking a wait-and-see approach amid the uncertainty over the Nov. 5 presidential election, said CRU analyst Craig Lang.
The election outcome is a determinant of tariff policies between US and top metals consumer China. Polls indicate a close race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
The uncertainty pushed dollar/offshore yuan on Friday to a level not seen since August 2015.
The US election result could even affect the size of China’s stimulus to revive the fragile economy of the world’s biggest metals consumer.
