BEIJING, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Copper prices lost ground on Monday, weighed down by a firmer U.S. dollar ahead of key economic data and rising inventories in top consumer China.<\/p>\n
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.5% at $8,529 per metric ton by 0618 GMT, while the most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slid 0.4% to 68,990 yuan ($9,585.27) per ton.<\/p>\n
The dollar was on the front foot on Monday, ahead of a week packed with key economic releases. A stronger dollar makes it more expensive to buy the greenback-priced commodity, thereby weighing down prices.<\/p>\n
Investor focus will be on inflation data from the United States, Japan and Europe, which will help refine expectations for future interest rate moves.<\/p>\n
Rising inventories in China, meanwhile, further weighed on the market, partly due to higher-than-expected January output and copper users taking a longer holiday amid tepid demand, said Shanghai Metals Market in a report.<\/p>\n
Deliverable copper stocks on SHFE <CU-STX-SGH> after the Lunar New Year holiday scaled 181,323 tons to a near one-year high.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, post-holiday demand is yet to pick up. Yangshan copper premium <SMM-CUYP-CN>, an indicator of import demand, was below $50 a ton, the lowest since August.<\/p>\n
China’s new home prices extended declines in January, data showed on Friday, despite Beijing’s measures to restore confidence in the debt-ridden property sector.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, LME aluminium climbed 0.3% to $2,186 per ton, nickel lost 1.3% to $17,265, zinc gained 0.3% to $2,412.50, lead moved 0.4% lower to $2,087, and tin was down 0.5% at $26,225.<\/p>\n
SHFE aluminium shed 0.2% to 18,775 yuan a ton, nickel lost 1.1% to 132,830 yuan, zinc gained 0.4% to 20,500 yuan, while lead moved 0.2% higher to 15,910 yuan and tin nudged 0.1% lower to 215,650 yuan.<\/p>\n
For the top stories in metals and other news, click or ($1 = 7.1975 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Andrew Hayley; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonia Cheema)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Copper prices lost ground on Monday, weighed down by a firmer U.S. dollar ahead of key economic data and rising inventories in top consumer China. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.5% at $8,529 per metric ton…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n