Copper prices fell on Monday after China’s central bank held medium-term lending rates steady and the market focused on the country’s weakened property market, but falling inventories limited gains. losses.
As reported by the Reuters agency, Wednesday’s session on the London Metal Exchange (LME) is likely to be characterized by volatility, while volumes are expected to be moderate due to a holiday in the United States.
Benchmark copper on the LME was down 0.7% at US$8,427 per metric ton at 1048 GMT. Prices of the metal used in energy and construction hit a two-week high of $8,499.50 on Friday as funds and traders trimmed bearish bets due to the breakout of key technical resistance levels.
With China returning from the Lunar New Year holiday, traders and analysts will be looking for clues about demand in the next two months, a seasonally strong period that precedes the summer construction season.
However, short-term trading will be affected by the US currency, which by rising makes metals quoted in dollars more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Copper stocks in LME-registered warehouses have fallen almost 25% since the end of December and are at their lowest level since September 2023, at 128,300.
The outflows have also helped narrow spot copper’s discount to the three-month copper contract, which hit an all-time high above $110 a tonne in early February.
Elsewhere, the discount for the three-month zinc contract has widened to four-month highs due to recent large inflows into LME warehouses. Three-month zinc fell 0.2% to US$2,379 a ton.
Among other base metals, aluminum fell 0.6% to US$2,204, lead fell 1.2% to US$2,039, tin fell 1.1% to US$26,665 and nickel rose 0.2% to US$16,385.
Source: Larepublica
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