Copper prices slipped in early Asian trade on Wednesday, following equity markets lower, as investors switched into safe-haven assets like gold amid rising tensions in the Middle East, although low inventories and tighter supply limited the drop. Iran launched a missile attack on U.S.-led forces in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday, hours after the funeral of an Iranian commander whose killing in a U.S. drone strike has raised fears of a wider war in the region.
FUNDAMENTALS
* COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.1% to $6,140.50 a tonne by 0133 GMT, after finishing up 0.2% in the previous session. The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.3% to 48,770 yuan ($7,023.03) a tonne.
* STOCKS: LME copper stocks MCUSTX-TOTAL of just 140,925 tonnes, the lowest since March, were limiting any price fall.
* CHILE: Copper output slumped at Chile’s state miner Codelco and BHP’s sprawling Escondida mine in November, according to Chile state copper agency Cochilco, amid a turbulent month of riots and mass protests that rocked the mineral-rich South American nation.
* GOLD: Spot gold climbed 1.9% to $1,603.21 per ounce by 0056 GMT. Prices hit their highest since March 2013 at $1,610.90 earlier in the session.
* COPPER: The copper price is unlikely to rebound in 2020 even if trade tensions between the United States and China subside, the head of Chile mining trade union Sonami said on Tuesday.
* OTHER METALS: Aluminium and tin were flat but the rest of the complex was lower, with nickel falling as much as 1.2%.
