HANOI- Copper prices edged up on Wednesday supported by a softer dollar but were confined to a narrow range with market participants eyeing more cues.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.2 percent to $9,021 per metric ton while the most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) was nearly flat at 73,870 yuan ($10,180.12) a ton.
US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday released details of his planned tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, in which he pledged to add an additional 10 percent tariff on all Chinese goods.
Prices fell earlier in the week, but eventually bounced back, as the tariffs on China have so far been less than previously expected.
“The devil is very much in the detail on all these announcements. It’s all headlines and no detail right now,” said Guy Wolf, Global Head of Market Analytics at broker Marex.
Helping to support prices on Wednesday was a softer dollar which makes greenback-priced metals cheaper to holders of other currencies.
LME aluminum rose 0.1 percent to $2,614 a ton, nickel edged up 0.2 percent at $16,020, tin dropped 2.6 percent to $28,150, zinc increased 0.6 percent to $3,094.50 and lead advanced 0.5 percent to $2,031. SHFE aluminum fell 0.4 percent to 20,520 yuan a ton, nickel declined 1.6 percent to 126,250 yuan, tin dropped 3.2 percent to 234,710 yuan, while zinc rose 2 percent to 25,610 yuan and lead increased 0.2 percent to 17,225 yuan.
