Copper falls as disappointing China data and Mideast impasse weigh

Business Recorder reported that copper slipped from the previous session's highs on Tuesday as traders absorbed a run of weak economic readings from China and the expiry of the US-Iran truce without a lasting settlement. Three-month contracts on the London Metal Exchange lost 0.39 per cent to $14,102 a ton by early Tuesday, while the most actively traded Shanghai contract fell 1.19 per cent to 107,690 yuan ($15,971.58) per ton.

Chinese factory output rose 4.5 per cent year on year in July, according to National Bureau of Statistics figures released Monday, slower than June and below forecasts. Fixed-asset investment, which covers property and infrastructure spending, shrank 6.7 per cent in the seven months through July, worse than the 6 per cent fall that had been expected. ANZ commodity strategist Daniel Hynes said weaker-than-expected Chinese data had dented sentiment across base metals. Higher prices had already cut into Chinese purchases of imported metal, and the Yangshan premium slipped to $85 a ton on Monday, its weakest since July 10, though it remained almost double the level seen at the year's outset.

Brent crude rose after the truce lapsed with talks to end the conflict still deadlocked. Costlier oil could feed inflation and push interest rates higher, which would weigh on growth-linked metals such as copper.