Copper price drops below $8,000 on new China covid curbs

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Copper prices slid to near two-week lows on Monday, pressured by fresh covid curbs in China.

Copper for delivery in December fell 1.3% on the Comex market in New York, touching $3.58 per pound ($7,876 per tonne).

[Click here for an interactive chart of copper prices]

“Hopes of a rapid reopening in China have been disappointing,” said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.

“The elephant in the room is the property market. I don’t buy that because people don’t have to quarantine anymore, they will go out and buy homes, confidence has been badly shaken.”

A recent Reuters survey showed China’s property sector will remain weak but see a gradual recovery in 2023, while prices of new homes are expected to fall in the first half of next year.

A higher dollar also weighed on industrial metals overall.

(With files from Reuters)

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