Market Outlook: Copper Pulls Back Amid Uncertainty Over Strong Dollar and Chinese Stimulus

Forex - Copper prices in London declined due to a strengthening U.S. dollar and a lack of clarity regarding China's stimulus measures, continuing to maintain weekly losses.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell by 0.2% to $9,074 per ton as of 06:19 GMT, marking a weekly loss of 0.5% so far.

The January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) traded at 74,580 yuan/ton ($10,250.98), down by 1.1%.

The U.S. dollar rose to its highest level against major rivals in the last 2.5 weeks, making metals priced in dollars more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Yesterday, as China prepared for further trade tensions with the U.S., it pledged to increase the budget deficit, borrow more, and ease monetary policy to maintain a stable economic growth rate.

However, the communiqué from the annual agenda-setting meeting did not specify the scale of the stimulus measures.

On the LME, aluminum was down 0.2% at $2,595 per ton, zinc decreased by 0.5% to $3,061 per ton, nickel fell by 0.2% to $16,130 per ton, lead dropped by 0.3% to $1,999.5 per ton, and tin was down 0.3% at $29,460 per ton.