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Wednesday April 24, 2024

Copper slips

By REUTERS
March 21, 2018

Beijing : London Metal Exchange (LME) copper prices fell for a fourth session on Tuesday, tracking a fall in equities as investors trimmed positions ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting starting later in the day.

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates for the United States this week for the sixth time since December 2015 at the two-day policy meeting, the first under new Chairman Jerome Powell.

"The risk-off tone in global markets, alongside relatively weak economic data, is likely to keep commodity prices under pressure," ANZ wrote in a note.

Higher U.S. rates may support a rising dollar, which would limit demand for dollar-denominated commodities such as copper from buyers paying with other currencies.

Copper had fallen on Monday after top metals consumer China´s new home price growth slowed in February from the previous month.