SINGAPORE, Feb 4 (Reuters) – London copper prices ticked lower on Monday, easing for a second session with the market under pressure from concerns over slowing factory activity in China – the world’s top industrial metals consumer. Trading was dampened by the week-long Lunar New Year holiday which has closed markets in China. Asia stocks were barely moved, staying near a four-month high after Wall Street’s tepid pre-weekend performance, while the dollar was supported against the yen following strong U.S. jobs and manufacturing data. COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell $6 a tonne, or 0.1 percent, to $6,133 a tonne by 0240 GMT. FACTORY ACTIVITY: China’s factory activity shrank by the most in almost three years in January as new orders slumped further and output fell, a private survey showed, reinforcing fears that a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy is deepening. HOLIDAYS: “There’s a lack of trading activity because of Lunar New Year holidays in China,” said Helen Lau, analyst, Argonaut Securities. “China’s slowing manufacturing is weighing on metals markets.” TRADE DEAL: Expectations of a trade deal between Washington and Beijing kept a floor under the market. U.S. President Donald Trump said he would meet China’s Xi Jinping soon to try to seal a comprehensive trade deal, citing substantial progress.
JOBS DATA: A U.S. Labor Department report on Friday showed nonfarm payrolls jumped by a stronger-than-forecast 304,000 jobs last month, the largest gain since February 2018. That report, along with better-than-expected ISM manufacturing activity numbers for January, pointed to underlying strength in the world’s biggest economy.
DEAL: Top copper miner Codelco said it had struck a contract deal with the union of supervisors at its Gabriela Mistral mine in northern Chile, averting the threat of a strike.
CME: The CME Group has reinstated approved status for warranting aluminium produced by United Company Rusal after U.S. sanctions were lifted against the company on Sunday.
