An official factory survey showed China's manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted in January and profits at industrial firms fell for a third straight year in 2024.
Negative sentiment was also reinforced by US President Donald Trump's threat to impose punitive 10% tariffs on Chinese imports on February 1, which would undermine trade and growth.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 1.1% to $9,171 a tonne. It hit $9,355.50 a tonne on Friday, its highest since Nov. 12.
"China has been risk-off (selling) ahead of their departure this week... We are in a market that is not going to go any higher," said Alastair Munro at broker Marex.
However, significantly lower copper prices could be attractive to Chinese buyers, Munro said, adding that they had previously entered at around $8,800.
Copper hits 10-week high on hopes of Trump deal with China
Elsewhere, the discount to the three-month cash aluminium contract has narrowed to around $7 a tonne, its lowest since September last year, due to concerns over inventory levels on the LME market. The discount was above $40 in December.
Aluminium inventories in LME warehouses have nearly halved to 592,625 tonnes since last May. Cancelled orders – metal designated for delivery – stood at 59%, suggesting more deliveries are expected in the coming days and weeks.
Traders said many consumers had to go to the LME to make purchases because they had sold off inventories and did not want to hold metals they might not need as financing costs rose with interest rates.
Three-month aluminium fell 0.6% to $2,623 a tonne.
Overall, a weaker US currency is expected to be supportive of USD-denominated industrial metals.
Zinc rose 0.3% to $2,836 a tonne, lead rose 0.5% to $1,949, tin fell 0.8% to $29,915 and nickel rose 0.6% to $15,765.
Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/gia-kim-loai-dong-ngay-28-1-quay-dau-giam.html
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