Shanghai Futures Exchange copper traded flat at 36,570 yuan ($5,487) a tonne on Thursday as investors took heart from encouraging signals in China's economy and as a softer dollar lent support. China's imports unexpectedly rose in August for the first time in nearly two years, boosted by coal and other commodities, suggesting domestic demand may be picking up and putting the world's second-largest economy on a more balanced footing.
Metals markets largely dismissed as seasonal news that China's imports of copper fell 2.8 percent from a month ago to 350,000 tonnes in August, the lowest in one year, due to a summer lull at factories and China producing more of its own refined metal. Instead, a persistently soft dollar lent support. "Unexpectedly weak data in the US non-manufacturing sector and a weaker US dollar have lent buoyancy to metal prices," Commerzbank said in a report.