Copper, aluminium under pressure from weak euro zone PMI
Updates with official prices
By Polina Devitt
LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) -Prices for copper and aluminium fell in London on Friday as data showing a tumble in euro zone business activity weakened the euro, and the dollar strengthened weighing on prices for industrial metals.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 was down 0.7% at $8,950 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading.
The Eurozone's dominant services industry contracted and manufacturing sank deeper into recession this month, a survey showed on Friday. The euro plunged to a two-year low after the data, and the U.S. dollar index hit a fresh two-year high. FRX/
Eight weeks of the U.S. currency strengthening, which makes dollar-priced metals more expensive for buyers using other currencies, and concerns about demand in top metals consumer China helped copper to fall by 12% from a four-month peak hit on Sept. 30.
"Industrial metals have also struggled amid heightened tensions and tariff threat, lowering the near-term outlook for growth and demand while gold and other investment metals have received a haven bid," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
Gold rose 1% on Friday with signs of escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war after Russia's strike on Ukraine using a newly developed hypersonic ballistic missile.
A poll, the first on China's economy by Reuters since Donald Trump's sweeping election victory on Nov. 5, showed this week that the United States could impose nearly 40% tariffs on imports from China early next year.
Meanwhile, the recent decline in copper prices helped to revive some part of demand in China - visible in a five-week-long decline in copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange. CU-STX-SGH
LME aluminium CMAL3 fell 0.7% to $2,614 in official activity, zinc CMZN3 eased 0.9% to $2,963, tin CMSN3 was down 0.2% at $28,700, while nickel CMNI3 added 1.0% to $15,875 with some consumer buying supported by its recent price decline.
Lead CMPB3 rose 0.9% to $2,017 supported by a decline in SHFE-monitored stocks PB-STX-SGH and fresh stocks cancellations in the LME-registered warehouses. 0#MPBSTX-LOC-GRD
Reporting by Polina Devitt in London; additional reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Krishna Chandra Eluri
For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview RING= COMEX copper futures 0#HG: All metals news MTL All commodities news C
Foreign exchange rates FX=SPEED GUIDES LME/INDEX
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