INGAPORE, July 17 (Reuters) - London copper prices bounced
back on Tuesday, with the market rising more than one percent as
low stockpiles and technicals underpinned the market, although
lean growth in top consumer China limited gains.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was
up 1.1 percent at $6,258 a tonne, as of 0419 GMT, and the
most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange
added 0.3 percent to 49,140 yuan ($7,358.16) a tonne.
INVENTORIES: Headline stocks of copper in LME-registered
warehouses gained 1,525 tonnes to 257,200 tonnes, but were still
at their lowest since January. MCUSTX-TOTAL
SUPPLIES: There was additional support for the copper market
stemming from expectations of output disruption.
ESCONDIDA: "Copper held up relatively well, as the
possibility of supply disruption in Chile was back in the
headlines," ANZ said in a note. "Workers at BHP's Escondida
copper mine rejected the company's first formal wage offer. The
two parties are expected to head back to the negotiating table
later this week."
TECHNICALS: LME copper is poised to break a resistance at
$6,260 per tonne and rise more towards $6,370, as suggested by
its wave pattern and a retracement analysis, according to Wang
Wang Tao, Reuters analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
GROWTH: China's economy expanded at a slower pace in the
second quarter as Beijing's efforts to contain debt hurt
activity, while June factory output growth weakened to a
two-year low in a worrying sign for investment and exporters as
a trade war with the United States intensified.
TRADE WAR: China's commerce ministry said on Monday it had
filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO)
regarding Washington's proposed tariff list on $200 billion
worth of Chinese goods on July 16.
INVESTORS: Copper speculators switched to a net short
position of 12,919 contracts, the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission said last week, the weakest position since December
2016.
ALUMINIUM SUPPLY: China's aluminium producers are responding
to tighter supply conditions by boosting output, data showed.
China's June output rose by 0.8 percent to 2.83 million tonnes,
which on a daily basis was the highest since June 2017,
according to Reuters' calculations based on official data.
ZINC: Shanghai zinc futures lost 2.4 percent and
lead dived 2 percent on worries over Washington-Beijing
trade war curbing demand.
