The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up 0.5 percent at 52,900 yuan ($8,600) a tonne on Friday. The preliminary HSBC purchasing managers' index for May suggests China's economic growth may remain under 8 percent in the second quarter, said Natalie Rampono, commodity strategist at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.
The country's economy grew by a less-than-forecast 7.7 percent in the first three months of the year. "There is a slowdown happening in China and it's going to pressure copper prices for the rest of this month," said Rampono, who sees copper averaging $7,600 this year, down around 4 percent from 2012.
Comments
Comments are closed.