Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.5% to $ 9,427.50 a tonne, at 5:28 a.m. GMT, and the most-traded copper contract in August on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was up 0. 8% to 68,880 yuan ($ 10,659.24) per ton.

In June, U.S. companies hired the most workers in 10 months, raising wages and providing incentives to attract millions of unemployed Americans to sit at home, a tentative sign that a labor shortage is weighing on the economy was starting to weaken.

“Wage growth tends to lead to strong demand for durable goods, a key sector for metals markets,” ANZ analysts said in a note.

FUNDAMENTALS
Global copper smelting activity fell in June after rebounding a month earlier as Chinese factories shut down for maintenance while nickel pig iron production surged, according to data from satellite monitoring of factories in China. copper.

Chilean miner Antofagasta PLC has signed contracts to supply Chinese copper smelters with copper concentrate at a processing fee of around $ 50 a tonne in deals spanning at least half of next year, sources said. .

Aluminum ShFE rose 2.9% to 19,235 yuan per tonne, nickel rose 1.9% to 137,270 yuan per tonne, and tin rose 2.4% to 216,600 yuan per tonne .

ShFE aluminum stocks in ShFE warehouses fell to 278,383 tonnes, their lowest since February 10, while copper inventories fell to their lowest since February 19 to 142,520 tonnes.

Meanwhile, copper stocks in bonded warehouses in China reached their highest level since July 2019 at 435,600 tonnes, according to data from SMM.