Copper slipped on Wednesday, under pressure from the prospect of increased supplies from Indonesia, but further falls were limited by encouraging economic data from top consumer China.
Benchmark London Metal Exchange copperdipped after news that supply could improve with Indonesia potentially exempting some shipments of concentrate from its export ban.
Copper hit an intraday high of $7,198.25 per tonne, not far from a 4-1/2 month high of $7,212 hit in early July, before trading at $7,132 a tonne at 1418 GMT, down 0.4 percent.
"We had a good day yesterday on the back of Chinese PMI data, which boosted all the base metals. Today is about consolidating gains for copper," said Vivienne Lloyd, base metals analyst at Macquarie.
China's factory activity expanded at its fastest in 18 months in July, data showed on Thursday, reinforcing confidence over the demand outlook from the world's top copper consumer.
"Copper had a strong day yesterday but is more muted today. It's encountering resistance just below $7,200/t currently and I'm not sure the fundamentals are strong enough to push it through that line."
Freeport-McMoRan Incand Indonesia reached a deal over a contract dispute that is expected to pave the way for a resumption of copper exports after a six-month stoppage, a company executive said on Friday.
After signing the memorandum of understanding, Freeport Indonesia CEO Rozik Soetjipto told reporters he hoped copper concentrate exports could resume as early as August.
"If they are able to resume output at full capacity, this could provide modest near-term downside to the copper price over the next few months," Matthew Kates at Nomura said in a daily note.
Goldman Sachs said it expects copper to underperform other base metal prices over the next 12 months, citing the metal's heavy exposure to China's property sector, which it expects to remain bearish this year and next.
LME leadrose to its highest since December at $2,279 a tonne on Friday as investors bought the contract that has underperformed its peers on growing economic optimism over China. It later pared gains to trade at $2,267, up 1.4 percent.
LME zinctraded at $2,395 a tonne, up 0.3 percent on Thursday's close to hit a fifth consecutive three-year top.
Source: Reuters
Benchmark London Metal Exchange copper
Copper hit an intraday high of $7,198.25 per tonne, not far from a 4-1/2 month high of $7,212 hit in early July, before trading at $7,132 a tonne at 1418 GMT, down 0.4 percent.
"We had a good day yesterday on the back of Chinese PMI data, which boosted all the base metals. Today is about consolidating gains for copper," said Vivienne Lloyd, base metals analyst at Macquarie.
China's factory activity expanded at its fastest in 18 months in July, data showed on Thursday, reinforcing confidence over the demand outlook from the world's top copper consumer.
"Copper had a strong day yesterday but is more muted today. It's encountering resistance just below $7,200/t currently and I'm not sure the fundamentals are strong enough to push it through that line."
Freeport-McMoRan Inc
After signing the memorandum of understanding, Freeport Indonesia CEO Rozik Soetjipto told reporters he hoped copper concentrate exports could resume as early as August.
"If they are able to resume output at full capacity, this could provide modest near-term downside to the copper price over the next few months," Matthew Kates at Nomura said in a daily note.
Goldman Sachs said it expects copper to underperform other base metal prices over the next 12 months, citing the metal's heavy exposure to China's property sector, which it expects to remain bearish this year and next.
LME lead
LME zinc
