Copper posted its biggest one-day rise since early April on Thursday as better than expected Chinese economic data allayed some concerns about oversupply, prompting a bigger bounce off this week's near three-week low. China reported stronger than expected exports and imports for May despite falling commodity prices, suggesting the economy is holding up better than feared. China's unwrought copper arrivals also jumped month on month.
However, the metal remains vulnerable to further losses after pulling back 8 percent from mid-February highs, analysts said, on the prospect of slackening growth in China and tightening US monetary policy. "The market will grab any good news it can get, but the overall picture here is that we are looking at a softer Chinese economy, and in general a global economy that will not push ahead with the pace we saw in the first quarter," said Danske Bank analyst Jens Pedersen. "That gives limited upside to copper." London Metal Exchange copper closed up 1.9 percent at $5,729 a tonne, its biggest one-day rise since April 5.
Copper stocks in LME warehouses fell 7,875 tonnes on Wednesday to 286,350 tonnes, continuing their retreat from early May's seven-month high. They have declined almost 20 percent from that peak. European bonds jumped and the euro and bank shares stumbled on Thursday, as ECB chief Mario Draghi took markets by surprise with a robust signal the bank had no plans to cut back its stimulus any time soon. The ECB kept its money taps wide open on Thursday but dropped a reference to possible interest rate cuts, an unexpectedly hawkish move as euro zone growth accelerates.
Former FBI Director James Comey will tell US lawmakers at a hearing that began on Thursday that President Donald Trump repeatedly urged him to halt a probe into his former national security adviser's ties to Russia and to declare publicly that Trump himself was not being investigated. British Prime Minister Theresa May goes to the polls in an election she called to strengthen her hand in looming Brexit talks, with her personal authority at stake.
Global nickel miners are coming under renewed pressure to cut costs or close capacity as a flood of cheap ore pushes prices to one-year lows, with analysts seeing little prospect of recovery. LME nickel ended the day at $8,815 a tonne, up 0.1 percent. LME tin closed down 0.7 percent at $19,180 a tonne. Zinc ended up 0.8 percent at $2,466 a tonne and lead finished 1.4 percent higher at $2,091 a tonne. Aluminium was untraded at the close, but was last bid at $1,902, down 0.2 percent.
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