Copper prices pulled back on Thursday on a firm dollar and as investors locked in profits from a rally to a five-month peak ahead of key U.S. jobs data and amid uncertainty about tariffs.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.6% at $9,917 per metric ton by 0945 GMT, a day after hitting its strongest since March 26 at $10,038.
LME copper has gained 13% so far this year.
“It seems to be simply profit-taking ahead of these economic data prints,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.
“Also, this $10,000 level seems to be quite a firm barrier for the copper price for now and the underlying fundamentals are not yet strong enough for it to be able to punch through.”
Surveys on U.S. private sector employment and monthly layoffs are due later on Thursday ahead of the crucial non-farm jobs report on Friday that will help set expectations for the central bank’s next few policy meetings.
The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange shed 0.5% to 79,770 yuan ($11,152.12) a ton.
Also weighing on metals markets was a steady dollar index , making commodities priced in the U.S. currency more expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Uncertainty about demand in top metals consumer China was also unsettling markets.
Marginal weakness in terminal demand may reflect a lackluster peak season in China, though the widespread shutdown of scrap copper rod mills helped lend strength to copper prices, said broker Galaxy Futures.
Top producer China’s refined copper production this month is set for a rare fall, the first for the period since 2016 as newly introduced tax regulations constrain the supply of scrap copper.
Among other metals, aluminium lost 0.7% to $2,601 a ton, nickel fell 0.6% to $15,215, zinc shed 0.7% to $2,842, tin eased 0.6% to $34,480, while lead was unchanged at $1,995.50.
($1 = 7.1529 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Eric Onstad, additional reporting by Lucas Liew in Singapore; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)