Recasts, updates prices as of 0618 GMT
BEIJING, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Copper prices lost ground on Monday, weighed down by a firmer U.S. dollar ahead of key economic data and rising inventories in top consumer China.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was down 0.5% at $8,529 per metric ton by 0618 GMT, while the most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 slid 0.4% to 68,990 yuan ($9,585.27) per ton.
The dollar =USD was on the front foot on Monday, ahead of a week packed with key economic releases. A stronger dollar makes it more expensive to buy the greenback-priced commodity, thereby weighing down prices.
Investor focus will be on inflation data from the United States, Japan and Europe, which will help refine expectations for future interest rate moves.
Rising inventories in China, meanwhile, further weighed on the market, partly due to higher-than-expected January output and copper users taking a longer holiday amid tepid demand, said Shanghai Metals Market in a report.
Deliverable copper stocks on SHFE CU-STX-SGH after the Lunar New Year holiday scaled 181,323 tons to a near one-year high.
Meanwhile, post-holiday demand is yet to pick up. Yangshan copper premium SMM-CUYP-CN, an indicator of import demand, was below $50 a ton, the lowest since August.
China’s new home prices extended declines in January, data showed on Friday, despite Beijing’s measures to restore confidence in the debt-ridden property sector.
Elsewhere, LME aluminium CMAL3 climbed 0.3% to $2,186 per ton, nickel CMNI3 lost 1.3% to $17,265, zinc CMZN3 gained 0.3% to $2,412.50, lead CMPB3 moved 0.4% lower to $2,087, and tin CMSN3 was down 0.5% at $26,225.
SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 shed 0.2% to 18,775 yuan a ton, nickel SNIcv1 lost 1.1% to 132,830 yuan, zinc SZNcv1 gained 0.4% to 20,500 yuan, while lead SPBcv1 moved 0.2% higher to 15,910 yuan and tin SSNcv1 nudged 0.1% lower to 215,650 yuan.
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