Copper futures inch higher as investors digest China PMI data
Investing.com
Published Oct 23, 2014 03:18AM ET
Copper rises modestly as China PMI data fails to impress
Investing.com - Copper prices inched higher on Thursday, as investors digested key Chinese manufacturing data.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper for December delivery traded at $3.026 a pound during European morning hours, up 0.8 cents, or 0.28%.
A day earlier, copper prices lost 1.0 cent, or 0.35%, to settle at $3.017 a pound.
Futures were likely to find support at $2.974, the low from October 21, and resistance at $3.045, the high from October 22.
Data released earlier showed that the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing index inched up to a three-month high of 50.3 in October from 50.2 in September and above forecasts for 50.3.
Despite the improvement in the headline number, the level of output in factories fell to a five-month low of 50.7 this month, underlining concerns over a cooling economy.
A government report on Tuesday said that China’s economy expanded at an annual rate of 7.3% in the third quarter, down from growth of 7.5% in the preceding quarter.
While the figure exceeded market expectations of 7.2%, it was also the slowest expansion since the first quarter of 2009.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold futures for December delivery shed $2.30, or 0.18%, to trade at $1,243.20 a troy ounce, while silver futures for December delivery declined 4.1 cents, or 0.24% to trade at $17.19 an ounce.
Market players looked ahead to the release of key U.S. data later in the session for further indications on the strength of the economy and the future path of monetary policy.
The U.S. will release the weekly report on initial jobless claims later Thursday.
Data on Wednesday showed that the U.S. consumer price index ticked up 0.1% last month from August, while core consumer prices, which exclude energy and food costs, also rose 0.1%.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Investing.com
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.