Copper under pressure from stronger dollar, weak euro-zone business activity
Updates prices by 1654 GMT
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's strength weighed on prices for industrial metals.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was down 0.4% at $8,971 per metric ton by 1654 GMT.
The euro zone'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/
Three 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 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 (a U.S.) 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 1.3% with signs of escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war after Russia's strike on Ukraine using a newly developed hypersonic ballistic missile.
A poll of economists, the first on China's economy by Reuters since Donald Trump's sweeping election victory this month, showed this week the United States could impose nearly 40% tariffs on imports from China early next year.
The recent decline in copper prices helped to revive some 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 eased 0.5% to $2,618.50, zinc CMZN3 fell 0.9% to $2,964, while tin CMSN3 gained 0.8% to $28,880 and nickel CMNI3 added 0.8% to $15,845.
Lead CMPB3 rose 1.0% to $2,017.50 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, Krishna Chandra Eluri and Rod Nickel
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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