Base metals rise on China demand optimism
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Prices of base metals rose on Thursday as traders assessed the prospects of further stimulus measures and stronger demand from China’s sprawling construction sector towards the end of the monsoon season.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.1% at $7,696 a tonne, as of 0322 GMT, and the most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 0.4% to 62,770 yuan ($8,850.19) a tonne.
China’s Shanghai city on Tuesday announced 1.8-trillion-yuan investment worth of infrastructure projects, echoing national policymakers’ calls to revive sluggish economic growth hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic, a property downturn, weak domestic demand, and a fading trade outlook.
The construction industry consumes a vast amount of metals.
LME tin increased 2% to $21,600 a tonne, zinc was up 1.3% at $3,138 a tonne, aluminum jumped 0.7% to $2,218 a tonne and lead advanced 1% to $1,855 a tonne.
ShFE zinc rose 1.3% to 24,970 yuan a tonne, tin increased 2.7% to 185,770 yuan a tonne, and aluminum advanced 0.6% to 18,690 yuan a tonne.
The global refined copper market showed a 30,000-tonne deficit in July, bringing the deficit level in the first seven months of the year to 126,000 tonnes, International Copper Study Group data showed.
The global zinc market was in a surplus of 83,000 tonnes in the first seven months of 2022, while the lead market was over-supplied by 25,000 tonnes in the same period, data from the International Lead and Zinc Study Group showed.
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DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0500 Japan Chain Store Sales YY Aug
0645 France Business Climate Sep
1100 UK BOE Bank Rate Sep
1230 US Initial Jobless Claims Weekly
1400 EU Consumer Confidence Flash Sep
($1 = 7.0925 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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