Copper inches higher as dollar falls

Copper prices rose on Friday, as the US dollar fell against most currencies, amid focus on the pandemic developments, and its impact on global demand and monetary policies.

Concerns are growing in many countries about the coronavirus pandemic, as infections surge in both the US and Europe.

However, this did not prevent governments from continuing their plans to combat the virus without imposing full lockdowns.

Several studies showed that the Omicron variant showed less serious symptoms in patients compared to other variants.

The US Department of Labor reported that the economy has added 199K new jobs in December, less than forecasts of 430K jobs, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.9% from 4.2%.

The dollar index fell against a basket of major currencies by 0.3% to 96 points as of 14:50 GMT, after hitting a high of 96.3 points and a low of 95.9 points.

Copper March futures rose 0.45 to $4.37 a pound, as of 14:46 GMT.