Copper falls from 2-week high after raft of China data

Investing.com - Copper prices fell from the previous session's two-week top on Thursday, after a flurry of Chinese economic data came in broadly in line with market expectations.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper for July delivery lost 3.1 cents, or 1.12%, to trade at $2.716 a pound during European morning hours. A day earlier, copper rose to $2.767, the most since May 29, before ending at $2.747, up 3.3 cents, or 1.22%.

Futures were likely to find support at $2.682, the low from June 8, and resistance at $2.767, the high from June 10.

Official data released earlier showed that industrial production rose by an annualized rate of 6.1% in May, just above expectations for a 6.0% increase and following a gain of 5.9% in the preceding month.

A separate report showed that fixed asset investment fell short of forecasts, indicating that China needs to act to prevent a further slowdown in the economy.

China's economy grew at the slowest pace in six years in the first quarter, underling speculation policymakers will have to introduce further easing measures to jumpstart the economy amid lackluster growth.

Since November, the People's Bank of China has introduced a series of stimulus measures, including lowering interest rates three times and cutting the reserve requirement ratios of major banks twice, in order to spur economic activity and boost growth.

The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption.

Elsewhere, gold futures for August delivery dipped $3.20, or 0.27%, to trade at $1,183.40 a troy ounce, while silver futures for July delivery declined 8.7 cents, or 0.55% to trade at $15.87 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.4% to 94.99 early on Thursday, moving off overnight lows of 94.30.

The greenback regained some strength after weakening broadly on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to U.S. retail sales and jobless claims data due later in the day for further indications on the strength of the economy and the timing of a future rate hike.