Copper futures rose in Asia on Friday, building on offshore gains despite subdued trading across the region due to holidays in some countries. Dealers said copper was in the upper end of a wide technical trading range that could see a push toward prices last reached in late January. "Copper is building on its strengths," one dealer said. At 0554 GMT, three-month London Metal Exchange copper was $23 higher at $3,071/$3076 a tonne. In the last London outcry session, copper rose by $70.
"We could see copper at $3,100 (a tonne) in February," another dealer said. Copper last traded at $3,100 a tonne on January 24.
The US dollar held steady in Asian trade, buying about 105.77 yen against 105.82 yen in New York. The euro bought $1.2875 versus $1.2877 in New York.
The generally weaker greenback has encouraged investors in Asia to buy US dollar-denominated commodities, such as copper, with stronger home currencies.
"We saw the last-gasp rally in the US dollar before promptly reversing, in the sharpest US dollar sell-off since pre-Christmas," said Craig Ferguson, senior currency strategist at ANZ Investment Bank.
Trading was thin in both commodities and currency markets, with a national holiday in Japan and markets closed in several other countries for the Lunar New Year.
The Shanghai Futures Exchange will reopen on Wednesday.
Three-month zinc, which raced to a fresh 7-1/4-year high in London after Japan's Nippon Mining Holdings Inc. said it would close its Toyoha mine, shed $1 to $1,327/$1,332 a tonne.
The mine, which produces zinc and lead, will close at the end of March next year after exhausting ore reserves.
Zinc concentrate production at the end of March was estimated at about 83,000 tonnes, while lead production was put at about 9,000 tonnes.
Three-month lead also dropped $1 to $917/$922 a tonne, after gaining $11 in London.
Aluminium lost $5 to $1,841/$1,846 a tonne after gaining $34 in London.
Nickel was down $10 to $15,350/$15,550 a tonne.
Tin was indicated $100 lower at $7,850/$8,050.
Comments
Comments are closed.