Mumbai (Commodities Control) – London copper edged up on Thursday after the United States and China signed a preliminary trade deal, but gains were limited as investors doubted the pact would spur world economic growth.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.1% to $6,293.50 a tonne by 0231 GMT, hovering below an eight-month high of $6,321 hit on Tuesday.
The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange , however, fell 0.2% to 49,290 yuan ($7,162.27) a tonne, after hitting a two-week high in the previous session.
LME nickel fell 0.4% to $14,265 a tonne, while tin rose to a four-month high of $17,600 a tonne. In Shanghai, aluminium gained 0.4% to 14,005 yuan a tonne, while nickel jumped 2% to 111,430 yuan a tonne and lead climbed 1.4% to 15,215 yuan a tonne.
Washington and Beijing signed the Phase 1 trade deal on Wednesday that will roll back some tariffs and boost Chinese purchases of U.S. products, defusing an 18-month row that has hurt global economic growth and metals demand.
But investors are worried that the pact would not substantially boost metals demand as the deal left a number of sore spots unresolved.
LME three-month copper is facing a resistance of $6,371.54 a tonne while its supporting level stands at $6,225.47 a tonne, Reuters commodities and energy technical analyst Wang Tao said.
New home prices in China's 70 major cities rose 6.6% in December from a year earlier, the slowest since July 2018, and down from November's 7.1% on-year increase.
Copper inventories in LME-approved warehouses fell to a 10-month low of 128,050 tonnes on Tuesday, latest data showed.
However, the discount between LME cash and three-month contract expanded to a more than three-month high of $34.50 a tonne, suggesting no nearby supply shortage.
(Commodities Control Bureau)