Metals: Copper eases on U.S. stimulus doubts, firm dollar; aluminium shimmers

MM2 Asia

10/12/2020 05:10

(Updates prices, adds comments)
    Dec 10 (Reuters) - Copper prices dipped on Thursday as
investors tempered their expectations for another coronavirus
U.S. stimulus deal while a firm dollar made greenback-priced
metals less attractive to buyers, though supply concerns
supported aluminium.
    Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange  CMCU3 
slipped 0.3% to $7,701 a tonne by 0421 GMT.
    The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai
Futures Exchange  SCFcv1  dropped 0.2% to 56,990 yuan 
($8,714.87) a tonne in morning trade.
    Sentiment soured after the U.S. House of Representatives on
Wednesday approved a one-week extension of federal government
funding to give more time for talks about the economic stimulus
package.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2IP1JH
    Investors were in a wait-and-see mode, analysts at Huatai
Futures said in a note. The U.S. stimulus plan "seems to have
encountered obstacles again ... (and) this has also restrained
copper prices to a certain extent."
    The only LME gainer, aluminium  CMAL3  rose 0.3% to
$2,040.50 a tonne while the Shanghai benchmark  SAFcv1  jumped
1.7% to 16,265 yuan a tonne.
    Winter restrictions have started to hit some Chinese alumina
operations, fuelling the bullish view on the metal, commodity
strategists at ING said in a note.
    "It remains to be seen how many further restrictions will be
required should air pollution worsen," they said.
    The restrictions come as Chinese aluminium demand is
currently robust, as smelting operations are driven by strong
margins, ING strategists said.
    
    FUNDAMENTALS
    * China's copper smelters produced 1% less copper cathode in
November than in the previous month due to maintenance in
Shandong, Anhui and other regions, according to research house
Antaike.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2IP0YE
    * In Shanghai, nickel  SNIcv1  gained 1.6%, zinc  SZNcv1 
rose 0.4%, tin  SSNcv1  advanced 0.9%, but lead  SPBcv1  fell
1.4%.
    * In London, zinc  CMZN3  dipped 0.4%, while lead  CMPB3 
dropped 0.9% and tin  CMSN3  lost 0.7%, but nickel  CMNI3  was
flat.
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 (Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
 ((enrico.delacruz@tr.com))
 
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