Melbourne
London copper climbed on Wednesday after the euro firmed as investors bet on a Greek debt deal, while the first day of a week-long break in top user China drained liquidity from the market.
“Asian investors have generally been a little bit more bearish on the base metals ... But if they’re out, you might not get that downside selling pressure coming through,” said analyst Daniel Hynes of ANZ in Sydney.
“Certainly the fundamental indicators coming through at the moment on supply constraints are raising the spectre of a tighter market than people had expected.”
Copper output from BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam mine in Australia will be cut by 60,000-70,000 tonnes this year, or more than a third of the targeted output levels, due to repair and maintenance work, the miner said last week.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had climbed 0.2 percent to $5,662 a tonne by 0635 GMT, paring a 1.7-percent loss in the previous session.