HANOI, March 19 (Reuters) - Copper prices fell on Friday as the dollar firmed on the back of rising U.S. Treasury yields, making greenback-priced metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.9% to $8,973.50 a tonne by 0542 GMT, while the most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange shed 0.8% to 66,600 yuan ($10,225.86) a tonne.
LME nickel dropped 0.4% to $15,970 a tonne, aluminium was down 0.3% to $2,209 a tonne and ShFE aluminium fell 1.4% to 17,450 yuan a tonne. SHFE nickel declined 0.8% to 119,800 yuan a tonne.
U.S. 10-year Treasury yields rose on Thursday above 1.75% for the first time in 14 months, pushing the dollar higher, as investors digested the U.S. Federal Reserve’s pushback against expectations of any early interest rate hikes.
“The yields rising indeed brought more demand for the U.S. dollar...(but) the Fed meeting was actually very bullish for value or cyclical assets,” said a Singapore-based metal trader.
“It is bullish for industrial activity and commodities because money will flow out to emerging markets. Any dip in metals is a chance to buy now.”
FUNDAMENTALS
* Cancelled warrants for LME aluminium - metals earmarked for delivery rose to their highest since February 2020 at 382,325 tonnes.
* Cancelled warrants for LME aluminium- metals earmarked for delivery rose to their highest since February 2020 at 382,325 tonnes.
* China’s aluminium imports in the first two months of 2021 rose 150.7% from a year earlier, customs data showed, as overseas metal booked at favourable prices continued to flow into the world’s biggest aluminium market.
* The global nickel market surplus shrank to 8,400 tonnes in January from a revised surplus of 14,700 tonnes in the previous month, data from the International Nickel Study Group showed.
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$1 = 6.5129 yuan
Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Subhranshu Sahu
Source: Reuters