Copper Leads Advance in Industrial Metals as Weaker Dollar Boosts Appeal

Aug 16, (Bloomberg)— Copper led an advance in industrial metals, gaining by the most in a week, as a weaker dollar increased the appeal of raw materials priced in the U.S. currency. Zinc, lead and nickel advanced.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose as much as 1.3 percent to $7,250.25 a metric ton, the most since Aug. 9, before trading at $7,248.25 at 1:52 p.m. in Singapore. The November-delivery contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange traded little changed at 57,390 yuan ($8,436) a ton, after losing as much as 1.4 percent earlier.

"The dollar's giving commodities prices a boost," Ni Xiaolei, a trader at Donghai Futures Co., said from Jiangsu today. "Short-term price direction will be determined by sentiment and what happens in other markets like currencies and stocks."

Copper slumped 2.9 percent last week, snapping three weeks of gains, after the Federal Reserve said the U.S. recovery is weakening, European industrial production unexpectedly declined in June and reports showed China's industrial output, retail sales, new lending, producer prices and money supply grew in July at a slower pace than in June.

The dollar dropped for the first time in six days against a basket of six currencies including the euro and yen as U.S. retail sales rose in July by less than economists had forecast, raising concerns that growth is slowing.

Japan's gross domestic product grew at a slower-than- expected pace in the three months ended June 30, government figures today showed, adding to signs the global recovery is faltering and triggering losses in Asian equities.

Aluminum in London rose 0.9 percent to $2,128 a ton, zinc climbed 1.6 percent to $2,080 a ton, and lead gained 1.9 percent to $2,095 a ton. Nickel increased 1.7 percent to $21,639 a ton, while tin advanced 0.3 percent to $20,870 a ton at 1:58 p.m. in Singapore.