Updates throughout, adds dateline
LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Copper prices eased on Thursday as the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated it could tighten monetary policy quicker and faster than previously expected, boosting the dollar.
In a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Fed chief Jerome Powell said “the committee is of a mind to raise the federal funds rate at the March meeting assuming that the conditions are appropriate for doing so”.
The news boosted the dollar to its highest since July 2020, making metals priced in the U.S. greenback less attractive to global buyers. FRX/
“The hawkish tone that Powell provided yesterday has taken edge off commodity performance including in base metals,” said WisdomTree commodity strategist Nitesh Shah.
“Reduced liquidity means that what could be fueling demand for these metals could wane.”
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was down 1% at $9,824 a tonne, as of 1304 GMT, snapping a two-session winning streak.
COPPER INVENTORIES: Capping further losses were low inventories of the metal in warehouses registered with the LME.
On-warrant copper stocks slipped to a two-month low of 65,750 tonnes. MCUSTX-TOTAL
COPPER SUPPLY: Miner Anglo American AAL.L said its overall production for the fourth quarter was flat as a strong diamonds performance countered a 4% fall in copper, for which it expects higher output this year.
ANTOFAGASTA: The U.S. Department of the Interior canceled two mineral leases for Antofagasta’s ANTO.L proposed Twin Metals copper and nickel mine in Minnesota, effectively killing the project and handing a major win to environmentalists.
RUSSIA: The United States has set out a diplomatic path to address sweeping Russian demands in eastern Europe, as Moscow held security talks with Western countries and intensified its military build-up near Ukraine with new drills.
Russia is a major producer of metals including nickel and palladium.
OTHER METALS: LME aluminium CMAL3 was flat at $3,093 a tonne, zinc CMZN3 added 0.8% to $3,637, lead CMPB3 shed 0.4% to $2,313, tin CMSN3 was up 0.2% to $42 300 while nickel CMNI3 was down 0.6% to $22,555.
(Reporting by Zandi Shabalala, additional reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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