Copper steadies as US growth

Copper steadied on Monday as a stronger dollar counterbalanced an improvement in market sentiment after data last week showed US manufacturing had grown at a surprisingly strong pace in June, easing concerns over an economic slowdown. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange traded at $9,435 (Dh34,655) per tonne in rings, the same level seen at the close on Friday. Earlier, the metal used in power and construction hit a session high of $9,520.25 a tonne, its highest since April 28. "I think the market digested what happened on Friday and some fears have eased a bit," said Credit Suisse analyst Stefan Graber. Article continues below "Over the past few weeks the market has been focusing on global growth concerns and worries over Greece. With these concerns easing, the focus is shifting back to fundamentals, and the copper market still shows some tight conditions." The pace of growth in US manufacturing picked up for the first time in four months in June, surprising investors and fuelling optimism that the recent economic slowdown would be temporary. China's PMI data, however, dipped further in June, pointing to a contraction in factory output for the first time in 11 months. The Chinese data was not completely unexpected, according to Graber. "It shows that tightening measures are working in preventing the economy from overheating. Now the market expects that China will not take many more measures and this should allow [metals] demand to pick up," Graber said. A slightly stronger dollar against a basket of currencies though was weighing on metals prices. The euro eased from one-month highs against the dollar after Standard & Poor's said a debt roll-over plan being considered for Greece may put the country into selective default.