Copper prices gained for a fourth straight session on Monday, supported by a weaker dollar and data from top consumer China that indicated higher demand. The benchmark copper price on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.5 percent, its highest intraday jump in nearly two months, to close at $6,670 a tonne. The price has dipped by about 8 percent since hitting a three-year high in October.
"The dollar is weaker and so that is supportive for copper at the moment," said Commerzbank head of commodities research Eugen Weinberg, adding that data from China including on higher copper imports last week had helped the metal rise. "The price of copper has fallen from recent highs so some might be going for bargain-hunting already," Weinberg said.
Vehicle and loans data from China, which accounts for about half of global consumption of industrial metals, pointed to improved consumer confidence. Vehicle sales in November rose 0.7 percent from a year earlier to 2.96 million vehicles, marking a sixth consecutive month of gains, an industry association said.
China's bank lending in the first 11 months of 2017 topped last year's record due to a stronger-than-expected jump in November credit. Household loans, mostly mortgages, also rose and accounted for 55 percent of total new loans. A lower US currency makes dollar-denominated metals cheaper for non-US firms. The dollar slipped against a trade-weighted basket of currencies on lacklustre US wage data that could weigh on the pace of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve next year.
London Metal Exchange zinc was 1.4 percent higher at $3,125 by the end of trade. The premium of cash zinc over the three-month contract has eased to $6 from a high of $91 hit on Oct. 12.
Headline zinc stocks in LME-approved warehouses fell by 1,700 tonnes to 199,425 tonnes, their lowest since November 2008. But cancelled warrants - metal earmarked for delivery - stood at 18 percent of total stocks, down from 50 percent three months ago. China's zinc production fell 1.1 percent year-on-year in November to 423,000 tonnes, Antaike said. The state-backed research firm expects 2017 production to drop by between 60,000 and 80,000 tonnes.
Speculators slashed their long positions on COMEX copper futures and options by around a third to 54,881 positions in the latest week, Comex data showed. LME aluminium closed 0.5 percent higher at $2,002 a tonne, nickel ended 2.7 percent higher at $11,240, lead ended the session up 1.6 percent at $2,488 and tin finished 0.3 percent lower at $19,400.
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