BEIJING, Nov 18 (Reuters) – London copper prices ticked up on Friday, but were on course for a weekly drop, weighed down by stronger dollar and weak global demand outlook.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was up 0.4% at $8,146 a tonne, as of 0159 GMT. It has lost 4.1% so far this week, retreating from a five-month high scaled last Friday.
The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 slid 0.8% to 65,810 yuan ($9,200.21) a tonne.
Asian stock markets were cautious and the dollar was set for a weekly gain, after U.S. Federal Reserve officials pushed back against investor hopes for less aggressive rate hikes with employment data still showing a tight labour market.
A stronger dollar makes the greenback-priced metal costlier for buyers holding other currencies.
German industrial group Thyssenkrupp TKAG.DEwarned on Thursday sales and profit would “nosedive” next year as high inflation and energy costs were compounded by an expected recession in Europe.
Meanwhile, top metals consumer China struggled with rising COVID-19 cases this week, including in some big cities like Beijing and Guangzhou, fanning concerns about its economic performance.
China produced 953,000 tonnes of refined copper in October, up 10.9% from a year ago, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Among other metals, LME lead CMPB3 was down 0.7% to $2,135.50 a tonne, tin CMSN3 advanced 1.4% to $22,905 a tonne and zinc CMZN3 rose 0.9% to $3,014.5 a tonne, while aluminium CMAL3 edged up 0.1% to $2,393.5 a tonne.
SHFE nickel SNIcv1 declined 1% to 198,970 yuan a tonne, lead SPBcv1 was down 0.3% to 15,640 yuan a tonne, tin SSNcv1 fell 1% to 183,180 yuan a tonne, zinc SZNcv1 added 0.4% to 24,335 yuan a tonne and aluminium SAFcv1 climbed 1.1% yuan to 19,080 yuan a tonne.
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($1 = 7.1531 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Siyi Liu and Dominique Patton; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
((Siyi.Liu@thomsonreuters.com;))
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