monitoring desk
\nKarachi
\nCopper hit a 3-1\/2 month high on Wednesday as the dollar fell sharply, concerns lingered over possible supply disruptions in Chile and buying momentum picked up after the metal broke key technical levels. Nickel and zinc hit their highest in more than a month, tracking the ferrous complex higher after a blast at an iron ore mine in China and amid falling inventories.
\nCopper has risen nearly 4 percent this week after the union at BHP\u2019s Escondida mine in Chile, the world\u2019s largest, said on Friday it had started the latest round of wage negotiations.
\nFailure to reach a deal last year led to a strike that resulted in a near 8 percent drop in annual output.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s natural that anything related to Escondida is going to cause a bit of a flare up. The concentrates market is very tight. That\u2019s magnifying any (possible) supply shocks,\u201d said Kash Kamal, an analyst at BMO Capital Market.
\nAlso boosting the metals, the dollar index sank after data showed the US trade deficit fell to a seven-month low in April, lifted by rising shipments of industrial materials and soybeans.
\nA weaker dollar makes dollar-priced metals cheaper for non-US buyers.
\nThere was technical follow-up buying in copper this week after the price exceeded the 200- and 100-day moving averages and the $7,000 a tonne mark, analysts at Commerzbank said.
\nThree-month copper on the London Metal Exchange hit $7,238 a tonne, its highest since February 16, and closed at $7,220 a tonne, up 1.7 percent.
\nLME aluminium ended up 1.5 percent at $2,345, its highest since May 10.
\nSpot aluminium premiums in Asia have nearly halved in recent weeks, even as US premiums hold at three-year highs, driven down by an influx of Chinese metal and bets that Russian producer Rusal will avoid sanctions.
\nChinese iron ore futures climbed to their highest in two weeks after an iron ore mining accident, stirring concerns about potential tight supply in the market. Steel rebar futures also gained.
\nSteelmaking ingredient zinc hit its highest since late April at $3,220, but ended down 0.2 percent at $3,192.50, while stainless steelmaking ingredient nickel hit its highest since mid-April at $15,845, but ended down 0.7 percent at $15,635.
\nLead ended up 0.4 percent at $2,527, while tin ended up 1.6 percent at $20,975, having hit its highest since May 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
monitoring desk Karachi Copper hit a 3-1\/2 month high on Wednesday as the dollar fell sharply, concerns lingered over possible supply disruptions in Chile and buying momentum picked up after the metal broke key technical levels. Nickel and zinc hit their highest in more than a month, tracking the ferrous complex higher after a blast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-27268","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n