Credit: REUTERS/Sonali PaulBy Brijesh Patel
June 8 (Reuters) - London copper prices edged lower on Wednesday, pressured by a firmer dollar, although demand optimism due to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in top consumer China and declining inventories offered support.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was down 0.2% at $9,680 a tonne, as of 0717 GMT.
The most-traded July copper contract in Shanghai SCFcv1 ended daytime trading up 0.1% at 72,790 yuan ($10,911.24) a tonne.
"The stronger USD and central banks layering on the rate hikes in order to drive inflation lower at the expense of consumer and likely industrial consumption is weighing on the market sentiment," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
"The central bank endgame to cool inflation by slowing economic growth isn't great for commodities. The China reopening is already getting long in the tooth and the market isn't reacting to the headlines like it did."
The dollar =USD gained 0.2% against its rivals, making greenback-denominated metals more expensive for buyers using other currencies. USD/
Beijing and commercial hub Shanghai have been returning to normal in recent days after two months of bitter isolation under a ruthless lockdown.
FED: The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark funds rate by 50 basis points next week and again in July to fight soaring inflation.
COPPER: Chile, the world's top copper producer, saw exports of the red metal reach $3.76 billion in May, down 18.3% from a year earlier, the central bank said on Tuesday.
INVENTORIES: Copper stocks in LME warehouses fell by 20,200 tonnes to 120,775 tonnes MCUSTX-TOTAL, the lowest since April 14.
TIN: Tin CMSN3 climbed 3.2% to $37,215 a tonne after data showed Indonesia refined tin exports fell 42.8% in May from the previous month's volume.
OTHER METALS: LME aluminium CMAL3 eased 0.3% at $2,770.50 a tonne, zinc CMZN3 was flat at $3,798, nickel CMNI3 lost 0.9% to $29,205, lead CMPB3 added 0.2% to $2,227.
Shanghai aluminium SAFcv1 fell 0.4%, zinc SZNcv1 was up 0.3%, nickel SNIcv1 added 2.2%, lead SPBcv1 rose 1%, and tin SSNcv1 rose 2.3%.
($1 = 6.6717 yuan)
(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Shailesh Kuber)
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