LONDON, – Copper prices were little changed on Tuesday as mixed data from top metals consumer China was balanced by pressure from rising available inventories in warehouses approved by the London Metal Exchange.
The price of benchmark copper on the LME fell 0.1% to $9,613 a metric ton by 0945 GMT. On the technical front, the contract is sandwiched between its 50-day and 100-day moving averages at $9,659 and $9,567, respectively.
Copper, used in power and construction, is down 2.6% so far in July as exports to the United States became less appealing after Washington said last week it planned to impose a 50% import tariff on copper from August 1.
“LME copper should fall modestly as the ‘extra’ U.S. front loading demand eases, allowing inventories to replenish, but downside appears limited,” Morgan Stanley said in a note.
As Washington’s announcement left three weeks until the tariff deadline, the amount of the metal marked as being prepared for delivery out from the LME warehouses fell to only 11% of the total stocks. At 12,625 tons the so-called cancelled stocks are at the five-month low compared with 56,325 tons a month ago.
Meanwhile, data in China showed that the economy slowed less than expected in the second quarter in a show of resilience in the face of U.S. tariffs, with June industrial output rising 6.8% year-on-year, ahead of expectations.
However, with new home prices falling at the fastest monthly pace in eight months, China promised to build liveable, sustainable and resilient cities in the next phase of its urban development, abandoning breakneck urban growth that once super-charged its economy.
The dollar hovered just below a three-week high on Tuesday, ahead of the release of U.S. inflation data that could give traders a steer on the near-term outlook for interest rates.
LME aluminium rose 0.2% to $2,597 a ton, zinc lost 1.0% to $2,702.50, lead eased 0.5% to $1,992, while tin and nickel fell 0.4% to $33,355 and $14,995, respectively.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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