Copper rose for a third day on positive Chinese economic data and hopes Beijing will unveil more economic support measures.
The industrial metal has rallied more than 2% since the close on Thursday. China’s services activity expanded last month at the fastest pace since July, following better-than-expected indicators from official and private factory gauges last week. Taken together, the reports suggest that recent stimulus measures may be having some impact.
The Chinese government is also widely expected to outline more steps to aid the economy when the National People’s Congress’ Standing Committee meets this week. Senior officials have been dropping hints of a major announcement, according to Bloomberg Economics.
Metals including copper fell last month as initial optimism over China’s efforts to spur growth turned into doubts over their effectiveness. The market will be watching the closely fought US election on Tuesday, with results starting to come through the following day in Asia.
Copper has rallied on election day in nine of the 10 previous cycles, Citigroup Inc. said in a noted dated November 4. The metal could rise temporarily to $10 000 a ton over the coming week on Chinese and US monetary easing, a risk-on tone for stocks if Donald Trump wins, or a reduction in tariff fears if Kamala Harris is victorious, it said.
Copper rose 0.4% to $9,730.50 a ton on the London Metal Exchange as of 11:27 a.m. in Shanghai. Aluminum climbed 0.5% to $2 633 after figures from Shanghai Metals Market showed Chinese inventories fell to the lowest level since February.
Iron ore futures, meanwhile, advanced 1.7% to $105.70 a ton on the Singapore exchange following a similar gain on Monday. 