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2 Minutes Read (Updates prices) Reuters, July 8 – Copper prices in London fell on Thursday after minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting confirmed that the central bank will begin tapering its bond purchases sooner than expected, bolstering the currency and endangering liquidity in financial markets. After minutes from the Fed’s June policy meeting indicated that the world’s largest central bank is working toward halting asset purchases as soon as this year, the dollar lingered near a three-month high against other major currencies. For holders of foreign currencies, a higher dollar makes dollar-priced metals more expensive. By 0705 GMT, three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) had fallen 0.9 percent to $9,371.50 per tonne, while August copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange had risen 0.1 percent to 68,740 yuan ($10,608.68). Though growing copper treatment costs and the release of Chinese state stockpiles have weighed on prices, Huatai Futures predicted that China’s control of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the infrastructure and new energy sectors, will stimulate copper demand. “However, we maintain a reasonably neutral stance (for copper) due to… the impact of possible tightening of central bank liquidity around the world,” it added. Aluminium sank 1.5 percent to $2,461 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange, while lead down 0.6 percent to $2,277 and zinc fell 0.9 percent to $2,932. Aluminium down 0.7 percent to 18,755 yuan a tonne on ShFE, while nickel rose 1.6 percent to 137,050 yuan and lead fell 0.5 percent to 15,725 yuan. Russia’s plans to tax aluminum exports, a critical element for transportation and packaging, have pushed up spot market prices for customers in Europe and the United States. China’s cabinet announced on Wednesday that it will employ timely reductions in the bank reserve requirement ratio to help the real economy, particularly small businesses. Click here ($1 = 6.4796 yuan) for the latest metals and other headlines. (David Goodman edited Mai Nguyen’s report from Hanoi.)/nRead More

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