HANOI- London copper rose on Monday, as a private sector survey showed strong factory activity in top consumer China, and stabilizing inflation in the United States suggested the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut plans later this year remained intact.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.1 percent to $10,152.50 per metric ton, while the most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange eased 0.2 percent to 82,100 yuan ($11,332.42) a ton.
China’s manufacturing activity in May grew at the fastest pace in about two years with strong production and new orders across smaller, export-oriented firms, a private sector survey showed, contrasting a surprise fall in the broader official purchasing managers’ index.
The manufacturing sector consumes a large amount of metals.
A softer dollar also made greenback-priced metals cheaper to holders of other currencies.
Data released last week showed that US inflation stabilized in April, keeping the door open for the Fed to cut rates later in the year.
The discount to import copper into China tightened to $10 a ton on Friday, from $20 on May 22, indicating some improvement in physical demand. However, overall consumption remained tepid due to high and volatile prices.
