Copper prices subdued ahead of US election, key China meeting

Reuters

Copper prices subdued ahead of US election, key China meeting

30 ott. 2024, ore 5:51 GMT

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Updates prices

By Mai Nguyen

Oct 30 (Reuters) -Copper prices were muted on Wednesday as traders braced for a tightly contested U.S. presidential election and awaited top metals consumer China to roll out further stimulus measures.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 edged up 0.1% at $9,542 per metric ton, as of 0749 GMT, while the most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) SCFcv1 closed 0.2% higher to 76,670 yuan ($10,756.02) a ton.

Earlier in the session, both contracts clocked in slight losses before rebounding to trade higher.

The neck-to-neck U.S. election, due on Nov. 5, will reveal how economic policies will form in the world's biggest economy in the next four years, which could also provide clues on the impact on metals.

China's top legislative body will meet on Nov. 4-8. The country is considering approving next week the issuance of more than 10 trillion yuan in extra debt in the next few years to revive its fragile economy, sources told Reuters.

Increasing tensions in the Middle East are also pushing investors towards safe-haven assets such as gold and the U.S. dollar, and reduced risk appetite in other markets such as base metals, a metals trader said.

The dollar has been hovering around its highest levels since August, making greenback-priced metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.

The premium to import copper into China has also been falling and was at $48 a ton on Tuesday, the lowest since Aug. 5 and indicating weaker demand. SMM-CUYP-CN

LME aluminium CMAL3 eased 0.1% to$2,655.50 a ton, nickel CMNI3 edged 0.2% higher at $15,900, lead CMPB3 was up 0.5% at $2,013, tin CMSN3 increased 0.6% higher to $31,280and zinc CMZN3 fell 0.1%to $3,119.50.

SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 edged up 0.4% at 20,865 yuan a ton, nickel SNIcv1 increased 0.2% to 124,690yuan, zinc SZNcv1 declined 0.2%to 25,030yuan, lead SPBcv1 rose 0.3% to 16,730yuan and tin SSNcv1 eased 0.1% to 255,320yuan.