BLBG:BASE METALS: Shanghai Metals Fall On US Payrolls, China CPI
SHANGHAI (Dow Jones)--Base metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell Monday as investors cast new doubts over the health of the world's largest economy after the U.S. posted disappointing unemployment figures Friday.
Persistent concerns over Beijing's monetary policy given that data issued Saturday showed inflation hit a three-year-high in June, further weighed on metal prices.
Benchmark SHFE September copper settled 0.5% lower at CNY71,690 a metric ton.
Shanghai metals tracked global counterparts' showing ahead of the weekend, with copper staying firmly in negative territory as investors turned away from riskier assets after the weak economic data.
"Poor payrolls data out of the U.S. was a major blow to the market especially when some initial figures last week indicated improving employment in the U.S.," said Minmetals Futures analyst Zhuo Guiqiu.
The consumer price index's growth rate in June, at 6.4%, highlighted still-strong inflationary pressure in China and clouded the outlook over monetary policy in the second half of this year, analysts said.
Although the rate was expected to be high and had therefore had been mostly priced in, investors are still concerned that accelerating inflation may herald further tightening measures, Zhuo said.
Meanwhile, news of a 24-hour strike scheduled for Monday at the world's largest copper producer, Corporacion Nacional del Cobre, is keeping the red metal well-supported.
Codelco will likely lose 4,900 tons of copper production due to the labor action.
China's June copper imports data helped quell earlier demand-side concerns, showing that imports picked up on month after declining in the previous two months. The 9.9% on-month rise to 280,009 tons brought January-June imports to 1.7 million tons, down 24% on year. June's imports were down 15% from a year earlier.
Copper traded at the Changjiang Nonferrous Metals Trading Market, a major spot metals market in Shanghai, was quoted at CNY71,550-CNY71,600/ton, down from CNY71,800-CNY71,850/ton Friday.
Three-month London Metal Exchange copper ended Friday's afternoon kerb $78 lower at $9,661/ton.
It was quoted 0.3% lower at $9,636/ton around 0700 GMT, when the SHFE closed.
SHFE lead settled 0.9% lower, aluminum lost 0.5% and zinc closed 0.9% lower.
Monday's settlement prices in yuan a ton and LME late kerb prices from Friday in dollars a ton:
