METALS-Copper rises on strong Chinese and U.S. manufacturing data

 

 

(Adds U.S. data, updates prices)

LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) – Copper prices rose on Monday as sentiment was boosted by robust manufacturing data from China and the United States, though gains were limited by a firmer dollar as the market awaits the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 0.7% at $6,725 a tonne at 1710 GMT.

“China dominates copper demand, economic activity is back to normal, so more stimulus is unlikely. It would be difficult to justify higher prices,” said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.

“The U.S. election, depending on who wins, could be positive for sentiment. But it (the United States) consumes less than 10% of the global total; it wouldn’t move the needle in terms of demand from infrastructure investment.”