LONDON- Copper eased as the dollar firmed after some aspects of an underwhelming US jobs report showed that the Federal Reserve’s path to monetary policy tightening was still on course.
Markets were also on edge due to the Omicron variant of coronavirus, with countries introducing new restrictions to slow its spread, which could potentially derail the global economic recovery.
“Copper and other base metals are holding up well despite the bearish news like the new variant, China slowdown and potential tightening by the Federal Reserve,” said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, partner at consultancy T-Commodity in Milan.
He said he was advising clients to hedge and gain long exposure to the industrial metals complex. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) had lost 1 percent to $9,401 per ton by 1717 GMT, set to end the week mostly unchanged.
A stronger US currency makes dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for non-US firms, a relationship used by funds to generate buy and sell signals. — Reuters
