LONDON: Copper prices slipped on Wednesday amid uncertainty about demand in top metals consumer China and ahead of rate decisions by the U.S. central bank and others.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dipped 0.8% to $9,149 a tonne by 1015 GMT, having gained 12% over the past month.

“Domestic activity in China is picking up quite strongly, but it’s the international demand for Chinese goods that may be holding back manufacturing activity,” said Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at WisdomTree.

China’s factory activity shrank more slowly in January than the previous month as data on Wednesday showed the Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in weaker than expected.

Physical demand in China was muted as producers held sufficient stocks that they built up before the Lunar New Year holidays, and as consumption from end users remained weak amid a slowdown in orders from both domestic and overseas markets, participants said.

“There will be more activities next week when more traders and buyers come back,” a Chinese trader said.

Copper falls as Fed fears knock price rally off course

The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed day trading 0.4% higher at 69,700 yuan ($10,332.05) a tonne.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting later in the day. Investors will closely monitor comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

“If central banks maintain their quite hawkish tilt, then that could be a reason for the dollar to continue to strengthen and that could weigh on base metals prices,” Shah said.

Among other metals, LME aluminium shed 0.8% to $2,622.50 a tonne, zinc dipped 0.1% to $3,387, nickel edged down 0.2% to $30,290, while tin added 0.6% to $29,675 and lead gained 1.2% to $2,162.60.