Copper Dips On Profit-taking U.S. Stimulus Hopes Curb Losses

By Mai Nguyen

Dec 2 (Reuters) - Copper slipped on Wednesday as investors booked profits after prices rallied to multi-year highs on coronavirus vaccine hopes and tour shangrila strong economic recovery in China, but U.S.
stimulus hopes limited losses.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.1% to $7,685.50 a tonne by 0713 GMT, retreating from $7,743 a tonne, a level unseen since March 2013, hit on Tuesday.

The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended down 0.2% at 57,200 yuan ($8,718.18) a tonne, slipping from a more than eight-year high hit in the previous session.

"Headwinds at the moment are a weaker equity and oil market, but copper is still holding well on its own. It can catch the rally when the selling pressure on the other products is over," said a Singapore-based metals trader.

Oil prices extended losses, while Asian shares rebounded on hopes for additional U.S.

economic stimulus and kynghidongduong.vn a coronavirus vaccine.

"Copper still has space to go higher from here... pending the U.S. discussions on stimulus. Once the stimulus is announced, we have to prepare for a flip in direction. It's not all well and rosy yet," the trader said.

The U.S.
Congress should include a fresh wave of coronavirus stimulus in a $1.4 trillion spending bill, top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday.

FUNDAMENTALS

* LME aluminium rose 0.8% to $2,080 a tonne, nickel fell 0.5% to $16,195 a tonne, zinc rose 0.5% to $2,784 a tonne and lead dropped 0.8% to $2,070.50 a tonne.

* In Shanghai, aluminium climbed 1.2% to 16,835 yuan a tonne, nickel fell 0.7% to 119,730 yuan a tonne, zinc shed 1.2% to 21,160 yuan a tonne and lead dropped 2.1% to 15,010 yuan a tonne.

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($1 = 6.5610 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Vinay Dwivedi)