By Eric Onstad
LONDON, Dec 24 (Reuters) – Copper prices edged lower on Friday, sapped by thin holiday trade and concerns about weaker physical demand.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 fell 0.1% to $9,603 a tonne by 1035 GMT, after four straight days of gains that propelled it to a two-week high on Thursday.
“The metals prices may well have recovered recent losses but that is very much in the world of futures trading as the physical world is very quiet and the demand for metal is falling away,” said Malcolm Freeman of Kingdom Futures.
China’s Yangshan copper premium SMM-CUYP-CN for refined copper imports has slipped to $90 a tonne from $104 a week ago.
The most-traded February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 closed daytime trading 0.3% lower at 69,750 yuan ($10,950.62) a tonne, after a three-day rally.
“Generally, I’m not expecting much excitement going into year-end unless there are major news or developments being reported, such as Omicron news that is beyond our expectations,” said Wong Min Hao, a commodities manager with Phillip Futures in Singapore.
Health experts have warned that the battle against the Omicron coronavirus variant was far from over despite two drugmakers saying their vaccines protected against it and signs it carries a lower risk of hospitalisation.
* MMG Ltd’s 1208.HK Las Bambas copper mine said that a temporary truce to lift a month-long blockade affecting a key copper transport road in Peru does not guarantee conditions to restart operations in a sustainable way.
* LME aluminium CMAL3 rose 0.1% to $2,848 a tonne, extending a three-day advance. Surging energy prices in Europe raised concerns of higher production costs and smelter shutdowns, propelling aluminium to a two-month high on Thursday.
* LME nickel CMNI3 rose 0.2% to $20,065 a tonne, lead CMPB3 gained 0.6% to $2,286 while zinc CMZN3 fell 0.1% to $3,525 and tin CMSN3 edged down 0.1% to $38,850.
($1 = 6.3695 yuan)
(Additional reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; editing by Uttaresh.V)
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