London copper inched down in early Asian trade on Friday as the dollar crept up and top miner Codelco said it would resume projects suspended due to the coronavirus, while investors awaited data on top consumer China’s July copper imports.
The metal widely used in power and construction was, nonetheless, on course for a weekly gain of 0.8% after a fall in London Metal Exchange inventories and as the dollar lost ground over the week, making greenback-denominated metals cheaper for holders of other currencies.
* COPPER: Three-month LME copper was down 0.3% at $6,462.50 a tonne by 0145 GMT, extending a 0.3% loss in the previous session. The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 0.2% to 51,450 yuan ($7,394.69) a tonne.
* COPPER: Chile’s state-run miner Codelco said it would restart operations and projects it had suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic from next week.
* CHINA: Customs is due to report preliminary trade data for July, including unwrought copper and copper concentrate imports, as well as aluminum exports, on Friday. Unwrought imports hit a record high in June.
* ALUMINIUM: President Donald Trump moved to reimpose 10% tariffs on some Canadian aluminum products to protect U.S. industry from a “surge” in imports, angering Ottawa and some U.S. business groups.
* OTHER METALS: Shanghai lead was the top performer, rising as much as 2.8% to its highest since Sept. 16 and was on course for a weekly gain of 5.7%, its best in more than two years.
DATA/EVENTS AHEAD (GMT) 0600 Germany Industrial Output MM June 0645 France Reserve Assets Total July 0730 UK Halifax House Prices MM July 1230 US Non-Farm Payrolls July 1230 US Unemployment Rate July 1230 US Average Earnings YY July 1900 US Federal Reserve issues Consumer Instalment Credit for June