LME ASIAN WRAP: Copper prices fall as oil stumbles

Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange fell below the key $6,500 mark following the tumble in crude oil prices before rallying back slightly in Asian trade on Friday November 28.

Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange fell below the key $6,500 mark following the tumble in crude oil prices before rallying back slightly in Asian trade on Friday November 28.

Brent crude oil fell to a four-year low of $72.82 a barrel while US crude fell almost 7% to $68.59. This led to the dollar rising and oil-linked currencies and shares tumbling.

At 02:32 London time, the three-month copper contract was down $28 from its opening to trade at $6,496.75 per tonne. It touched a high of $6,527 per tonne and a low of $6,484.25 per tonne.

With the USA celebrating Thanksgiving holidays on Thursday, the market was surprised to see more than 4,000 lots of copper being traded in the first half-hour of opening of LMEselect.

“There was [Chinese] Mainland interest under $6,500 per tonne,” said a broker in Asia.

A second broker defined the fall as “aggressive”, adding that there will be more buying interest from China below $6,500 per tonne.

Shanghai Futures Exchange copper prices fell following LME’s losses in Asian morning trading, with the most traded February contract opening at 46,660 yuan ($7,568.11) per tonne before falling to 46,140 yuan at 10:30 Beijing time.

Spot copper prices on the Changjiang Nonferrous Metals Exchange lost 660 yuan to 47,030-47,060 yuan per tonne.

By 02:32 London time, three-month aluminium was down $1.75 at $2,040 per tonne.
Lead was down $2.75 at $2,054.75 per tonne.
Zinc traded flat at$2,255 per tonne.
Nickel was down $5 at $16,300 per tonne.
Tin was untraded.

Shivani Singh
shivani.singh@metalbulletinasia.com
Twitter: shivani.singh@metalbulletinasia.com

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