
London copper and other base metal prices tracked Asian equity markets lower in early trade on Tuesday despite positive factory data in top metals consumer China, as investors looked to collect profits on the last day of the year.
Copper, widely used in power and construction, is on course to notch a 5.8% rise in December, which would be its best month in two years, and a 4% gain in 2019 on easing Sino-U.S. trade tensions. However, the metal is set to end the decade around 16% lower than where it began.
FUNDAMENTALS
* COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange slipped 0.2% to $6,205.50 a tonne by 0218 GMT, after closing up 0.1% on Monday. The most-traded February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.3% to 49,270 yuan ($7,055.50) a tonne.
* CHILE: The world’s top copper-producing country is due to report its copper output figure for November later on Tuesday.
* CHINA: Factory activity in China expanded for a second straight month in December, as Beijing’s stimulus measures buoyed domestic demand and exporters cheered a trade war truce with the United States.
* TRADE: Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will visit Washington this week to sign a Phase 1 trade deal with the United States, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday.
* OTHER METALS: Lead was the laggard, falling 1% in London and 0.9% in Shanghai, while ShFE nickel was the only metal to rise, nudging up 0.4%.
* GOLD: China’s net gold imports via Hong Kong in November plunged 72% from the previous month to their lowest in nearly nine years, data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department showed on Monday, mainly due to subdued demand.
* RIO: Global miner Rio Tinto said on Monday full operations at its South African unit Richard Bay Minerals (RBM) will resume in early-January after cutting back because of security concerns for its workers.
* HOLIDAY: Both the LME and the ShFE will be closed on Wednesday for the New Year’s Day holiday.