Copper rises as investors weigh trade tensions and China outlook

Copper rose to trade near a record as investors assess conflicting comments from President Donald Trump about trade relations between the world’s top two economies and Beijing’s signals that the Chinese economy can meet growth targets for this year.

Trump said he could threaten China with “many other things” like airplane parts if there’s no deal between the two sides. Earlier, he sought to dial down confrontation with China ahead of likely trade talks this week. The US leader is set to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later this month.

Fresh data from China released on Monday (October 20) painted a mixed picture of the economy, but the country’s National Bureau of Statistics said a full-year target of about 5% economic growth was still on track.

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The metals industry is coming out of what proved to be a relatively bullish gathering of merchants, producers and buyers at LME Week in London last week. Major global traders are enjoying their most profitable year ever after a series of mine disruptions and supply dislocations drove prices toward record levels.

Copper was up 0.8% to settle at $10,691.50 a ton at 5:52 p.m. local time. All other metals except aluminum advanced, with zinc up 1.5%% and nickel up 0.6%%.

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