LONDON: Copper prices rebounded on Wednesday after the market stabilised at a key support level amid hopes that China will reveal more support for its ailing property sector.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) gained 1% to $9,629 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading after touching a three-week low in the previous session.

“The market is trying to establish some support in this area around $9,500, which is both technical and psychological support,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen. Buying from industrial consumers and arbitrage traders helped support prices, broker Marex said in a note.

“The market is trying to work out what kind of impact the initiatives from China will actually have on the market. The trajectory of rates coming down and a small bazooka in China should be enough to stabilise prices,” Hansen added.

A trader in Asia said that there was some short-covering ahead of a press conference on China’s property sector scheduled for Thursday. In late September, metal prices surged after China pledged strong stimulus measures to boost the economy, but they have since retreated as follow-up announcements from China lacked details and disappointed investors.

Nickel was the only LME metal in the red, slipping 0.6% to $17,325 after hitting the lowest in more than two weeks at $17,250. LME stocks have continued to pile up, highlighting a surplus in the market, having surged by 40% since the start of July to the highest since November 2021. Among other metals, LME aluminium gained 0.8% to $2,590 a ton, zinc rose 1% to $3,083, lead climbed 1.4% to $2,108 and tin advanced 0.8% to $32,645.