London copper prices edged higher on Monday, underpinned by falling inventories in London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses and on hopes of further economic stimulus from the Chinese government.
Three-month copper on the LME edged up 0.1 percent to $9,030 a ton, while the most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dipped 0.1 percent to 69,960 yuan ($10,174.37) a ton.
LME copper inventories MCUSTX-TOTAL dropped to 51,550 tons, their lowest since August 2005. Stockpiles of the metal in SHFE warehouses CU-STX-SGH have also been falling.
“Weak inflation data in China also stoked hopes that Beijing would increase stimulus measures to support economic growth,” ANZ analysts said in a report.
“Sentiment across the broader metals market was supported by stronger risk appetite and a weaker USdollar.”
SHFE tin surged 11.3 percent to 217,240 yuan a ton and LME tin CMSN3 jumped 8.3 percent to $26,925 a ton on a possible ore mining ban in Myanmar.
LME nickel rose 2.5 percent to $24,740 a ton, lead fell 0.9 percent to $2,150 a ton, aluminum advanced 0.1 percent to $2,387 a ton and zinc increased 0.2 percent to $2,862 a ton.
SHFE aluminum rose 0.4 percent to 18,775 yuan a ton, zinc was up 0.4 percent at 22,430 yuan a ton, lead increased 0.7 percent to 15,390 yuan a ton and nickel jumped 3.5 percent to 191,050 yuan a ton. — Reuters
