Copper steady as soft dollar set to save 10 week streak
CPER•Other base metals mostly mixed
Among LME metals, zinc CMZN3 added 0.35%, lead CMPB3 gained 0.29%, nickel CMNI3 dipped 0.18% and tin CMSN3 lost 0.5%.
On the SHFE, zinc SZNcv1 added 0.43%, lead SPBcv1 ticked 0.09% higher, nickel SNIcv1 lost 0.72% and tin SSNcv1 added 0.28%.
($1 = 6.7114 Chinese yuan)
Copper set for a tenth straight weekly gain
Copper prices were stable on Friday, but set to end the week higher, supported by a plunge in the U.S. dollar which offset pressure from receding supply fears.
Benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange was up only 0.03% at $14,337.5 a metric ton by 0710 GMT. That placed the metal on track to edge up by the same quantum this week, which would mark a tenth straight weekly gain.
The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 advanced 0.22% to 108,780 yuan ($16,208.24) a ton.
The dollar slumped overnight on fading rate hike expectations after dovish comments by Fed Governor Christopher Waller. The CME's FedWatch tool shows rate traders pricing in even odds of a September rate hike, from a nearly two-in-three chance a day earlier.
A cheaper U.S. dollar can support greenback-denominated commodities by making them more affordable for buyers using other currencies, and lower rates can support industrial metals by stimulating economic activity.
It was a choppy week for copper, weighed down in trading earlier in the week by resurgent interest rate fears and market perceptions of less physical tightness of supply. LME copper's cash-to-three-month spread CMCU0-3 narrowed to $57.93 a ton of backwardation, from $171.40 a ton a week earlier.
