Copper Edges Down as Dollar Strengthens

By Lorena Ruibal

LONDON--The price of copper moved lower Thursday, as the dollar edged up and a cooling of trade tensions between the U.S. and the European Union failed to boost base metals.

Copper was down 0.22% at $6.291.5 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange in midday trade.

U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday said in a joint statement they had agreed to start negotiations to eliminate all tariffs and trade barriers on industrial goods between the U.S. and the EU. But some analysts pointed to remaining trade risks.

"While this halts the spiraling tariffs initially, it does not eliminate the risk of the trade dispute escalating nonetheless. U.S. tariffs on EU cars are still a possibility, for instance," said Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank.

An uptick in the dollar provided an additional headwind to metals. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 other currencies, was up 0.1%. A stronger dollar makes dollar-denominated metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Meanwhile, the price of gold was down by 0.27% at $1,228.20 a troy ounce. "The rapprochement in the tariff dispute between the U.S. and EU is presumably contributing to the price slide, as it is driving up risk appetite among market participants," Mr. Fritsch said.

Among other precious metals, silver was down by 0.38% at $15.54 a troy ounce, palladium was down 0.53% at $937.00 troy ounce and platinum was down by 0.41%, at $840.50 a troy ounce.

Among other base metals, zinc was up 0.15% at $2,588.00 a metric ton, aluminum was down by 0.05% to $2.062.50 a metric ton, tin was down 0.10% at $19,830.00 a metric ton, nickel was down 0.07% to $13,705.00 a metric ton and lead was up 0.26% at $2,159.00 a metric ton.

Write to Lorena Ruibal at [email protected]