London copper prices decline

In London, copper prices declined on Thursday as traders awaited a crucial political gathering in the world’s largest consumer China, which should announce aggressive economic development targets and stimulus measures.

The most actively traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up 0.2% at 69,780 yuan ($10,097.53) per tonne, while three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) declined 0.6% to $9,044 per tonne by 0807 GMT.

On LME:

• Lead decreased 0.9% to $2,122 per tonne
• Zinc edged down 0.1% to $3,110.50 per tonne
• Nickel down 0.4% to $24,785 per tonne
• Tin sank 1.3% to $25,000 per tonne.

On SHFE:

• Zinc increased 1% to 23,545 yuan per tonne
• Tin declined 0.8% to 204,810 yuan per tonne
• Nickel decreased 3% to 18,650 yuan per tonne
• Aluminum increased by 0.5% to 18,650 yuan per tonne.

Two of the three major Wall Street market indexes fell overnight amid concerns that global central banks would keep hiking interest rates to combat sticky inflation, while an uptick in Asian shares fizzled.

Since September 2022, the dollar index has increased by 2.7% monthly, making goods priced in dollars more expensive for owners of other currencies.

Better-than-expected copper factory activity from China, which rose at the highest rate in more than a decade in February, propelled metal prices higher in the previous session.

One of the main consumers of metals is the manufacturing industry. Market participants are now watching for signs of any stimulus measures to support China’s economic development and metals demand at this week’s annual parliament session.

In an effort to bolster consumer and investor confidence and build on a successful post-pandemic rebound, sources told Reuters that China is getting more aggressive with its growth target for 2023, aiming perhaps as high as 6%.

With Poor Market Sentiment, Copper Slides

The morning session in Asia sees a decline in copper due to gloomy market conditions brought on by an overnight increase in the 10-year Treasury yield. Analysts claim that the weakening of copper could be temporary. Following an announcement from Vice Finance Minister Xu that China plans to extend the sales-tax exemption for new-energy vehicles and is investigating additional policies to support the sector, ANZ Research analysts suggest that lowered expectations in terms of demand from the electric-vehicle industry may have to be amended. At $9,079.00 per tonne, the three-month LME copper contract is down 0.2%.