BEIJING, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Copper and most other base metals
continued to find support from a weaker U.S. dollar on Friday,
amid expectations of slower job growth in July in the United
States ahead of a closely watched employment report due later in
the day.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose
0.9% to $7,799.50 a tonne as of 0521 GMT.
Copper prices recorded a three-day loss earlier this week on
weak global factory data and flaring U.S.-China tensions
following U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s
visit to Taiwan.
The recent rebound was primarily attributed to technical
buying and a weaker dollar on signs of a softening labour
market.
A weaker dollar translates to cheaper costs for commodity
buyers using other currencies.
However, overall sentiment remained bearish with concerns
over a prolonged interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve
and near-term demand outlook in China, the world’s top metals
consumer.
“With the likelihood of Fed raising rate by 50 to 75 basis
points hanging on the table, participants are looking to
eliminate their risk exposure to current price volatility,” He
Tianyu, a copper analyst at CRU Group, said.
The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai
Futures Exchange advanced 1.3% to 60,170 yuan
($8,919.23) a tonne.
LME tin gained 0.6% to $24,695 a tonne, zinc
rose 1% to $3,484 a tonne, aluminium nudged up 0.4% to
$2,411.50 a tonne, while lead steadied at $2,046.50 a
tonne.
ShFE zinc jumped 4% to 24,595 yuan a tonne, nickel
climbed 2.9% to 178,000 yuan, tin rose 2.4% to
197,870 yuan a tonne, and aluminium was up 1.9% to
18,535 yuan a tonne.
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($1 = 6.7461 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Siyi Liu and Emily Chow, Additional reporting by
Eric Onstad; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Shounak Dasgupta)
Read More: Base metals supported by weaker dollar ahead of U.S. jobs report
