BEIJING- Copper prices in London bounced back on Monday from a weekly loss, supported by dwindling stocks of the metal globally, although a firm US dollar capped gains.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange added 0.9 percent $8,464 per metric ton by 0157 GMT, after posting a 2.1 percent weekly decline on Friday.
Last week, a high premium in China hit demand and expectations of another interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve’s July meeting dragged down prices, Guangda Futures analysts said in a note.
Prices are likely to bounce back from now til early July after the factors had been priced in and investor sentiment improved.
Global visible stocks for copper continued to slide last week. Inventories on SHFE, SHFE bonded warehouses, LME and COMEX together dropped 7 percent for the week to 236,000 metric tons on Friday.
The world’s largest copper producer Codelco has halted some copper mining operations in central Chile due to heavy rains last week, ING analysts said in a note.
However, the dollar hovering around a one-week high also weighed on the market, making it less attractive to buy the greenback-priced commodity.
The most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange trimmed 0.7 percent to 68,550 yuan ($9,511.19) per metric ton, resuming trading after a long weekend in China.
LME aluminum gained 0.6 percent at $2,186.50 a metric ton, tin added 0.4 percent to $26,585, while zinc shed 0.3 percent to $2,358.50, lead nudged down 0.3 percent to $2,116, and nickel was little changed at $21,310. – Reuters
