Copper prices fell on Thursday after two straight sessions of gains, as traders and investors reassessed the optimism in recent days on policy support in top consumer China.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dipped 0.3 percent to $8,540 per metric ton, while the most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.9 percent to 68,820 yuan ($9,612.13) a ton.
LME aluminum declined 0.9 percent to $2,209.50 a ton, nickel dropped 1 percent to $16,485, zinc fell 0.5 percent to $2,570.50, lead shed 0.9 percent to $2,143, and tin lost 0.5 percent to $26,375.
SHFE aluminum declined 0.3 percent to 18,850 yuan a ton, lead dropped 1.7 percent to 16,370 yuan, while nickel increased 0.2 percent to 129,770 yuan, zinc rose 1.1 percent to 21,335 yuan and tin advanced 0.6 percent to 220,140 yuan.
China’s central bank announced a deep cut to bank reserves on Wednesday, a move that will inject about $140 billion of cash into the banking system and send a strong signal of support for a fragile economy.
That came after a Bloomberg report said Chinese authorities were seeking to mobilize about 2 trillion yuan as part of a stabilization fund to buy shares onshore through the Hong Kong exchange link.
