Copper prices rose on Friday after a three-day slump, supported by a weaker U.S. dollar, but the metal was set for a weekly drop as worries persisted about an economic slowdown in top metals consumer China.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was up 0.6% at $9,406.50 a tonne, as of 0549 GMT, while the most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 rose 0.9% to 71,850 yuan ($10,666.88) a tonne.
For the week, copper – which is often used as a gauge of global economic health – edged down 0.1%, while other metals also headed for weekly losses.
“Metals marked time with concerns about Chinese demand acting as a weight on sentiment, while the weaker dollar and lift in risk tone acted as support,” analysts at Westpac said in a note.
The dollar sank to a one-month low versus major peers on Friday, as traders lowered Federal Reserve rate-hike expectations amid signs the U.S. central bank might slow or even pause its tightening cycle in the second half of the year.
A weaker greenback makes metals priced in dollars cheaper for holders of other currencies.
CHINA: Profits at China’s industrial firms fell at their fastest pace in two years in April as high raw material prices and supply chain chaos caused by COVID-19 curbs squeezed margins and disrupted factory activity.
ALUMINIUM: Workers at Russian aluminium giant Rusal’s RUAL.MM Guinea bauxite mine Compagnie des Bauxites de Dian Dian went on strike on Thursday, in a move Rusal said was illegal.
PRICES: LME aluminium CMAL3 rose 0.7% to $2,873 a tonne, zinc CMZN3 climbed 0.9% to $3,769, lead CMPB3 added 0.8% to $2,144.50, and tin CMSN3 edged up 0.1% to $33,675.
Shanghai aluminium SAFcv1 rose 1.3%, zinc SZNcv1 climbed 1.7%, lead SPBcv1 gained 1.4%, tin SSNcv1 was virtually flat. Low nickel inventory in China lifted the metal SNIcv1 by 3.8%.
