Copper rises with weaker dollar, revived bets on China stimulus

Copper prices rose on Wednesday with support from a weaker dollar and revived bets that top metals consumer China would launch more stimulus to counter risks of U.S. tariffs and to support its economy.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 rose 0.2% to $9,014 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading.

The metal, used in power and construction, has been trading in a tight range for two weeks as the market await details of possible U.S. tariffs and possible reaction from China.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday released details of his planned tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, in which he pledged to add “an additional 10% tariff” on all Chinese imports.

“The prospect of a trade war has raised expectations for Beijing to unleash more aggressive stimulus measures,” said Ewa Manthey, a commodities analyst at ING. “Any sustained pick-up in metals prices will depend on the strength and the speed of the rollout of the stimulus measures.”

China’s industrial profits fell in October but less sharply than the previous month as deflation pressures dragged while demand remained soft in the crisis-hit $19 trillion economy.

Meanwhile, LME aluminium CMAL3 was down 0.3% at $2,606 a ton in official activity due to improvement on the supply side after miner Rio Tinto lifted force majeure for alumina exports from its Australian refineries.

Tin CMSN3 fell 2.6% to $28,155 after hitting $27,765, its lowest since April 3, under pressure from investment funds reducing their net long speculative positions.

Tin is heading for a second monthly fall, and this decline has helped to revive demand, one metals trader said.

Zinc CMZN3 rose 0.9% to $3,103 after hitting $3,149, its highest since Oct 29, due to a second day of massively lower metal availability in LME-registered warehouses after notices from holders showed they wanted to remove almost 50,000 tons.

Lead CMPB3 was up 0.9% to $2,040 while nickel CMNI3 lost 0.9% to $15,850.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Polina Devitt in London; additional reporing by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; editing by Jason Neely)