The most-active October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange eased 10 yuan percent to 55,980 yuan ($8,800) per tonne, snapping five sessions of gains. "Copper prices have moved very little - around $100 or 500 yuan - over the past few sessions. Investors will stay cautious until they get more trading cues from today's ECB rate meeting and tomorrow's US nonfarm payrolls data," said a Qingdao-based copper buyer.
In physical markets, opportunistic restocking in China has helped support copper prices and kept the spread of Shanghai's July contract over its October contract in backwardation since early May. Shanghai aluminium was one of the session's best performers, with the most active Shanghai contact recovering 5.1 percent by the end of the day from a three-year low it posted last week as Chinese traders piled back in believing it was oversold.