IV:Copper climbs to 1-week high as China NPC meeting kicks off
Investing.com - Copper prices rose to a one-week high on Wednesday, as China’s National People’s Congress annual meeting kicked off earlier in the day.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for May delivery rose to a session high of $3.231 a pound, the most since February 26.
Copper prices last traded at $3.222 a pound during European morning hours, up 0.25%.
The May copper contract rallied 1.34% on Tuesday to settle at $3.214 a pound, as investor demand for riskier assets improved amid easing tensions over the political and military crisis between Russian and Ukraine.
Futures were likely to find support at $3.166 a pound, the low from March 4 and resistance at $3.239 a pound, the high from February 26.
China has set its gross domestic product growth target for 2014 at 7.5%, as widely expected, and will keep consumer inflation at 3.5%, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday.
The latest meeting of the legislature, the first to be overseen by President Xi Jinping and Premier Keqiang, comes amid lingering concerns over the health of the country’s economy.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.
Meanwhile, investors looked ahead to key U.S. economic data later in the day for further indications on the strength of the economy and the future course of monetary policy.
The U.S. is to release the ADP report on private sector job creation, which leads the government’s nonfarm payrolls report by two days, while the ISM is to publish a report service sector activity.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for April delivery fell 0.25% to trade at $1,334.80 a troy ounce, while silver for May delivery added 0.2% to trade at $21.26 a troy ounce.
