Futures for copper fell on Friday as it heads for its biggest weekly drop since March, as the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing sector grew lower than forecasted and traders waits for the US jobs report due later in the day.
Futures for the metal for the delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange edged 0.4% lower to $6,618.50 a metric ton at the time of writing. The metal has lost 10% since the year started and dropped by 2.2% this week.
China’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) came in at 50.4 in April, slightly up from the previous reading of 50.3 seen in March but still lower than analysts’ forecasts of 50.5.
“This China PMI data is kind of disappointing,” Helen Lau, a commodity analyst at UOB Kay Hian Ltd., said. “To make the copper price rebound, we really need better-than-expected numbers.”
US GDP
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) concluded its two-day policy meeting by reducing its monthly asset purchases by an additional $10 billion to $45 billion on Wednesday, overlooking the US weak first-quarter performance. The US central bank said the world’s largest economy’s growth is at a stable path.
Reports from the Commerce Department in Washington showed that the US gross domestic product expanded by 0.1% at an annual rate from January to March, compared to the 2.6% rise seen in the previous quarter.
US Jobs report
Traders will be focusing on the release of the US non-farm payrolls reports for April, which is expected to be released later in the day with forecasts of 218,000 new jobs added to the jobs market in April.
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