METALS-Copper ticks higher on weaker dollar, investor pause

(Adds analyst comment, updates prices, changes dateline to
London)

By Eric Onstad

LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) – Copper prices edged higher on
Wednesday on a softer dollar and as investors took a breather
from bearish bets that have weighed on the market so far this
year.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was
up 0.2% at $8,384.50 per metric ton by 1025 GMT.

“Having fallen for eight out of the last nine sessions, the
market is due for some kind of consolidation,” said Ole Hansen,
head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.

LME copper had shed nearly 5% at its low on Tuesday since
touching the highest in nearly five months on Dec. 28.

“As we approach the inflation print tomorrow, the dollar has
given back some of its strength, so that’s also adding some
support,” Hansen added.

The dollar index eased ahead of U.S. inflation data
on Thursday, which Hansen said is expected to keep hopes alive
for U.S. rate cuts later this year. [FRX/]

A weaker dollar makes it cheaper for non-dollar buyers to
purchase the greenback-priced commodity.

Although end-users in China have slowed down copper
consumption in January, a traditionally weak demand period, the
premium to buy copper in the spot market remained
high amid thin stocks, which could lend some support to futures
prices, said analysts at Guotai Jun’an Futures.

The most-traded February copper contract on the Shanghai
Futures Exchange lost 0.5% to 67,810 yuan ($9,451.00)
per ton as global economic headwinds weighed on metals prices.

The World Bank warned on Tuesday that global growth in 2024
is set to slow for a third year in a row, prolonging poverty and
debilitating debt levels in many developing countries.

The World Bank also forecast China’s economic growth to slow
to 4.5% in 2024.

China will release its trade data on Friday, which investors
are keenly awaiting to gauge prospects for demand in the world’s
biggest metals consumer.

LME aluminium dipped 0.3% to $2,242.50 a ton and
nickel slipped 0.5% to $16,200, while zinc
climbed 0.9% to $2,527, lead climbed 1.6% to $2,085 and
tin added 0.1% to $24,255.

For the top stories in metals, click [TOP/MTL]

($1=7.1749 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Eric Onstad;
Additional reporting by Siyi Liu in Beijing; Editing by Emelia
Sithole-Matarise)
(([email protected]; +44 20 7542 7093; Twitter https://twitter.com/reutersEricO;
Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

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