Copper trades higher on weaker dollar, easing China Covid curbs

By Onome Amuge

Copper prices climbed into bullish territory in the week, propped up by a softer dollar and easing COVID-19 curbs in China.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 0.1 percent to $8,348 a tonne, after gaining about 5 percent in the week.

The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange also advanced 0.9 percent to 66,240 yuan or $9,415.11 a tonne.

Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at WisdomTree, noted that the weaker dollar has helped the red metal in its upward movement.

Shah added that there are also signs that China may have to revise its zero-COVID policy, which he described as a good development for the metals markets.

Also supporting the copper market was a weaker dollar index, which was pinned near 16-week lows after slipping more than five percent in November on hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve would start to slow its pace of rate hikes from the December meeting.

According to market data, a softer dollar makes metals priced in the U.S. currency cheaper for buyers using other currencies.

Prices of other metals were mixed on the LME as aluminium shed 0.1 percent to $2,482.50 a tonne, while nickel was down 0.4 percent to $27,500 a tonne. However, zinc was up 0.3 percent to $3,088 a tonne, lead advanced 0.7 percent to $2,188 a tonne, and tin rose 0.7 percent to $23,500 a tonne.

Meanwhile, metal prices all traded in positive zone on the Shanghai Futures Exchange as aluminium gained 0.2 percent to 19,165 yuan a tonne, nickel added 0.3 percent to 201,700 yuan a tonne, zinc advanced 0.5 percent to 24,415 yuan a tonne, and tin was up 0.3 percent to 187,210 yuan a tonne.