Industrial metal prices in London rose on Monday, as a weaker dollar made greenback-priced metals cheaper to holders of other currencies.
The dollar slid as US authorities stepped in to cap the fallout from the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which led investors to speculate that the Federal Reserve would now be reluctant to rock the boat by hiking interest rates by a super-sized 50 basis points this month.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.7 percent to $8,925 a ton, aluminum advanced 0.7 percent to $2,330 a ton, zinc increased 0.5 percent to $2,952.50 a ton, lead CMPB3 was up 0.5 percent at $2,088 a ton and tin climbed 0.4 percent to $23,005 a ton.
The most-traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was almost unchanged at 69,130 yuan ($10,059.66) a ton, nickel shed 3.7 percent to 176,400 yuan a ton and aluminum fell 0.2 percent to 18,340 yuan a ton.
SHFE zinc declined 0.8 percent to 22,895 yuan a ton, tin lost 1 percent to 187,870 yuan a ton and lead was down 0.2 percent at 15,140 yuan a ton.
In China, signs of improving copper demand have emerged. SHFE copper inventories declined for the second straight week to hit their lowest since Jan. 20 by the end of last week, while premium for domestic copper climbed to 95 yuan a ton on Friday, the highest since Jan. 16.— Reuters
