Metals: Weaker Dollar and Mine Strikes Lift Copper
March 13 2017 - 4:10PM
Dow Jones News
By Katherine Dunn
Copper prices closed at a one-week high Monday as the dollar
weakened and traders refocused on supply disruptions at mines in
Chile and Indonesia.
Copper for March delivery closed up 1.2% at $2.6255 a pound on
the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest
settlement since March 6.
Gold prices were also higher, with the April contracts gaining
0.1% to $1,203.10 a troy ounce.
Over the weekend, the union at Chile's Escondida -- the world's
largest copper mine -- rejected efforts by BHP Billiton, the
majority-owner of the mine, to restart talks. The strike has now
been running for more than a month.
Those renegotiations are unlikely to restart before new Chilean
labor regulations go into force at the start of April that could
affect future negotiations, according to David Wilson, an analyst
at Citi in London.
"It's quite obvious that Escondida is going to go on for a
while," said Mr. Wilson.
On Friday, a strike at the Cerro Verde mine in Peru, which is
owned by Freeport-McMoRan Inc. began. A dispute over the terms of
an export license for Freeport's Grasberg mine in Indonesia also
continues to drag on.
Prices for both base metals and precious metals were also
gaining on the back of a weaker dollar on Monday, as traders
awaited a busy week of market news ahead of a potential rate
increase.
The WSJ Dollar Index, which weighs the dollar against a basket
of other currencies, was down 0.1% to 91.68.
The Federal Reserve will meet Tuesday and Wednesday, and is
widely expected to raise rates for the first time this year, while
offering cues on the timing of future rate increases this year.
Precious metals also advanced. Silver for March delivery was up
0.3% at $16.97 a troy ounce, April platinum was up 0.3% at $941.20
a troy ounce, and palladium was up 1.3% at $754.45 a troy
ounce.
Riva Gold and Ira Iosebashvili contributed to this article
Write to Katherine Dunn at Katherine.Dunn@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 13, 2017 15:55 ET (19:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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