HANOI, May 18 (Reuters) – Copper prices advanced on Tuesday, as a pressured U.S. dollar made greenback-priced metals cheaper and more attractive to holders of other currencies, while rising Chinese premium showed signs of improved demand from the world’s top consumer.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.7% at $10,446 a tonne, as of 0152 GMT, while the most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased 1.4% to 75,730 yuan ($11,772.66) a tonne.
The dollar was under pressure as Treasury yields stalled due to expectations that U.S. interest rates will remain low for an extended period, after Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said he does not expect rates to rise until next year.
Yangshan copper premium SMM-CUYP-CN rebounded $1.50 to $38.50 a tonne on Monday, climbing for the first time since February and signalling improved demand for imported metal into China.
The premium hit its lowest since February 2016 on Friday, as near-record-high copper prices deterred demand from industrial buyers in China.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The United States and the European Union agreed not to escalate their dispute over U.S. steel and aluminium tariffs, averting steep EU tariff hikes.
* LME nickel climbed 0.7% to $18,035 a tonne, zinc advanced 0.9% to $3,042 a tonne while SHFE nickel jumped 2.4% to 133,430 yuan a tonne and ShFE zinc climbed 3.5% to 22,960 yuan a tonne.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares showed gains at the open, shrugging off rising coronavirus infections in the region and resisting Wall Street’s subdued mode overnight amid concerns over rising inflation that left gold prices near recent highs.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0600 UK Claimant Count Unemployment Change April
0600 UK ILO Unemployment Rate March
0900 EU GDP Flash Estimate QQ, YY Q1
1230 US Housing Starts Number April
$1 = 6.4327 yuan Reporting by Mai Nguyen, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips
