Copper bounces on weak dollar but heads for weekly decline

LONDON: Copper prices bounced on Friday, supported by a softer dollar and revisions to forecasts showing diminished supply after mine disruptions.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rebounded 1% to $9,867 a metric ton by 1000 GMT after easing by 1.3% in the previous session.

LME copper was set for its first decline in five weeks, slipping about 1%, after touching a two-year peak of $10,208 on Tuesday.

“There’s a strong backdrop and sentiment has clearly shifted massively for copper and other metals. The question is has copper been a little over-stretched on the upside?” said WisdomTree commodity strategist Nitesh Shah.

He cited numbers this week from the International Copper Study Group, which made a sharp cut to its estimate for a global surplus this year, to 162,000 tons from the 467,000 tons forecast in October.

“As the year progresses and we see more supply disruptions and strong demand, especially from China on power grid spending, we could see that going into a deficit again,” Shah said.

Copper rises to trade near $10,000/T on softer dollar

Any correction or consolidation would be likely to last for a matter of weeks before prices resumed an upward trajectory, he added.

Also bolstering the metals market was a dollar index that weakened to a three-week low ahead of U.S. jobs data.

A softer dollar makes commodities priced in the U.S. currency cheaper for buyers using other currencies.

Metals volumes were lighter than normal because of Chinese markets being closed for the Labour Day holiday from May 1-3.

“As Chinese markets reopen on Monday (May 6) after the holiday, we believe that any sustained risk-off mood could exacerbate declines due to increased market activity,” Sucden Financial analysts said in a note.

LME nickel was up 1.4% at $18,900 a ton, shrugging off LME inventories that reached their highest level in 15 months, having surged by 73% over the past five months.

In other metals, LME aluminium added 0.6% to $2,542.50 a ton, zinc advanced 1.1% to $2,917.50, lead was up 0.6% at $2,192 and tin climbed 2.5% to $31,750.