Copper prices fell on Thursday, giving up early gains that were made after the release of Chinese data, as caution returned to markets.

Investors fear the coronavirus crisis might worsen, despite successive announcements of a several effective Covid-19 vaccines.

The United Kingdom announced on Wednesday granting a license to Pfizer for the emergency distribution of their Covid-19 virus vaccine, and said it would start vaccinating people early next week.

Data showed that the Chinese Caixin services PMI rose to 57.8 points last month, better than forecasts of 56.5 points.

The dollar index fell against a basket of major currencies by 0.4% to 91.7 points as of 14:03 GMT, after hitting a high of 91.09 points and a low of 91.7 points.

Copper March futures fell 0.1% to $3.48 per pound as of 14:02 GMT, after hitting a high of $3.52 and a low of $3.46.

US stock indices opened slightly higher on Thursday, amid cautious anticipation of updates about the coronavirus crisis, and after the release of upbeat economic data.

The World Health Organization stated that it is reviewing Pfizer's request to allow emergency use of its Covid-19 vaccine.

Moderna and Pfizer are expected to start distributing their vaccines in mid-December, with production rate of around 20 million doses of each vaccine.

The US Labor Department showed that initial unemployment claims reached 712,000 from 787,000, better than forecasts of 775,000.

As for stocks, Dow Jones rose 0.2% or 50 points to 29,932 as of 14:56 GMT, Nasdaq rose 0.3% or 37 points to 12,387, and S&P 500 rose 0.1% or 2 points to 3,671.

The US dollar fell on Thursday, to deepen its losses for the third straight day, diving to the lowest level in two and a half years, on weak demand and strong market sentiment, which comes ahead of key US data releases on the weekly jobless claims and the services sector performance during November.

The dollar index fell 0.43% to the lowest since April 2018 at 90.69 points, after opening at 91.05, and hit a high of 91.09.

The index lost 0.2% yesterday, posting its second straight daily loss, due to improved risk appetite in most global financial markets.

The market sentiment improved following news about the coronavirus vaccines, and the forthcoming approval of a extra financial stimulus in the US.

The United Kingdom announced on Wednesday granting a license to Pfizer and BioNtech for the emergency distribution of their Covid-19 virus vaccine, and the British government said it would start vaccinating people early next week.

Pfizer and BioNTech announced last week that the recent data from the final phase of the clinical trials on their Covid-19 vaccine showed it was 95% effective.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to talk about restarting negotiations for the second fiscal Covid-19 stimulus package, and Pelosi stated after the talks that Mnuchin would review her economic aid proposals.

The US lawmakers are expected to reach an agreement on passing a budget of $1.4 trillion to avoid the government shutdown on December 11th.

At 13:30 GMT, the US unemployment claims for the week ending November 28 are expected to reach 0.775 million from 0.778 million the previous week.

By 15:00 GMT, the ISM service PMI reading is expected to reach 55.9 points in November, from 56.6 points in October.

At 13:30 GMT, the US economy released its reading of the weekly unemployment claims for the week ending November 28 at 0.712 million, better than forecasts of 0.775 million, and better than the previous reading of 0.787 million after it was revised from 0.778 million. This data is positive for the US economy.