Holiday trade prices makes Copper appealing

BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes @SunZambian LONDON copper rose 0.2 percent to US$7,872.50 a tonne on Wednesday making dollar-priced metals cheaper and more appealing to buyers holding other currencies. This happened in thin holiday trade as the dollar fell to a multi-year low, making greenback-priced metals cheaper and more appealing to buyers holding other currencies, says Absa […]

Holiday trade prices makes Copper appealing
BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes @SunZambian LONDON copper rose 0.2 percent to US$7,872.50 a tonne on Wednesday making dollar-priced metals cheaper and more appealing to buyers holding other currencies. This happened in thin holiday trade as the dollar fell to a multi-year low, making greenback-priced metals cheaper and more appealing to buyers holding other currencies, says Absa Bank Zambia daily market report. According to Absa Bank Zambia, three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.2 percent to US$7,872.50 a tonne. “While this was happening, the most-traded February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dipped 0.3 percent to 58,400 Yuan (US$8,952.39) a tonne,” Absa said. And China’s November imports of copper concentrate from Australia plunged for a second month to the lowest since at least 2016, customs data showed, as a bilateral trade dispute slams China’s demand for Australian supply of the commodity. Meanwhile, the Zambian Kwacha held steady against the dollar on Tuesday as dollar appetite from the energy, agriculture and merchandise importers coupled with weak dollar supply continued to characterize the market. According to Absa Bank, the Kwacha closed the day at its opening levels of K21.125/21.1750 to the dollar where it traded throughout the day. “With dollar inflows still very low and demand swelling, the local unit is likely to add on to its losses in the short term,” the Bank said. Elsewhere, South Africa’s rand dipped on Tuesday as tighter restrictions to a curb a second wave of infections driven by a variant of the novel coronavirus weighed on sentiment. At 1530 GMT the rand was 0.56 percent weaker at 14.7125 per dollar, it softest in more than one week compared to an overnight close of 14.6300. Late on Monday, the country tightened Covid-19 restrictions, banning alcohol sales and extending a nationwide curfew, as the faster-spreading variant discovered earlier this month drove the number of infections above a million.