Copper prices decline as Chinese demand wavers
Copper prices fell on Thursday amid concerns about higher US interest rates, while Chinese demand disappointed the markets so far.
Copper three-month futures at the London metals exchange fell 0.4% to $8,520 a tone, while June copper futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.7% to 66,610 yuan a tone.
Profits of industrial corporations shrank a bit in the first three months of the year, however it was a modest decline as the economy strives to recoup.
Traders are betting on strong Chinese demand to boost prices, however so far the recovery of China's economy was milder than expected.
Prospects of higher US interest rates hurt prospects of global growth and demand on industrial metals.
China is also scheduled to enter a holiday next week for several days, in turn hurting demand further and potentially driving prices down by $300 a tone at the London Exchange.
As for other metals, aluminium prices at the London Metals Exchange fell 0.4% to $2,317 a tone, while nickel prices fell 0.1% to $23,630, while Zinc shed 0.7% to $2,625, while tin lost 0.8% to $25,545.
Otherwise, the dollar index rose 0.2% to 101.6 as of 14:42 GMT, with a session-high at 101.8, and a low at 101.2.
Copper futures in the US fell 0.3% to $3.85 a pound as of 14:39 GMT.
Oil prices hold ground above four-week trough amid concerns about US supply shortages
Oil prices rose in European trade for the first time in three days, holding ground above four-week lows amid improving demand from low prices.
Prices are also boosted by concerns about US supply shortages, after a tumble in US crude stocks and a slowdown in US production.
Global Prices
US crude rose 0.6% to $74.80 a barrel, while Brent added 0.8% to $78.39, with a session-low at $77.70 a barrel.
US crude lost 3.6% on Wednesday, the second loss in a row, plumbing four-week trough at $74.10 a barrel, while Brent lost 3.4%, hitting March 30 lows at $77.55 a barrel.
Such losses came on the back of concerns about a global economic slowdown and weaker fuel demand, while Russian crude exports increased this month.
Global central banks continue to aggressively raise interest rates to control inflation, with concerns that such measures will impact economic growth.
Otherwise, it's estimates that Russian oil exports through ports in April will be highest since 2009, above 2.4 million bpd despite Moscow's vows to cut output.
US Stocks
The Energy Information Administration reported a drop of 5.1 million barrels in US crude stocks to 460.9 million barrels while analysts expected a drop of 1.4 million barrels.
Gasoline stocks fell 2.4 million barrels last week, while distillate stocks fell 600 thousand barrels to 111.5 million barrels.
US Production
The EIA also reported a fall of 100 thousand bpd in US crude stocks last week to a total of 12.2 million bpd, with the US remaining the world's largest crude producer.
