(Updates prices as of 1629 GMT) By Pratima Desai LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Copper prices retreated onTuesday as weak manufacturing data indicated poor demandprospects, including from top consumer China, though fallinginventories suggested a tighter market.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)traded 0.5% down at $8,356.5 a metric ton by 1629 GMT. Prices ofthe industrial metal hit a four-week low of $8,141 a ton lastweek. Surveys of purchasing managers in China's manufacturingsector suggest that the world's second-largest economy lostmomentum in the second quarter as demand weakened. In the euro zone and United States, manufacturing activityslumped in June to levels last seen when the global economy wasreeling from the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic andlockdowns. "Macro headwinds around the world and stuttering growth inChina continue to weigh," one metals trader said. "It'sdifficult to tell at this stage where the trigger for buying orselling will come from." Copper stocks in LME-registered warehouses have dropped 33%since June 6 to 66,775 tons, while cancelled warrants -- metalearmarked for delivery -- sit at 46% of the total, indicatingmore metal is due to leave the LME system . Stocks of copper in warehouses monitored by the ShanghaiFutures exchange have fallen 73% since late February to 68,313tons . Meanwhile, a closely watched indicator of China's copperimport appetite, the Yangshan copper premium , hasmore than doubled since the middle of May to $50 a ton. "Our current forecast is for global refined copper demandgrowth of 1.8% this year, with China growing at a robust 3.3%,higher than previously expected due to strong power investment,electric vehicles and increased consumer spending," Macquarieanalysts said in a note. In other metals, aluminium rose 0.4% to $2,166 ametric ton, zinc gained 1.5% to $2,401, lead wasup 0.1% at $2,093.5, tin fell 0.5% to $27,250 and nickel retreated 0.4% to $20,490. (Reporting by Pratima DesaiEditing by Emma Rumney and David Goodman)
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