Industrial metals dipped on Friday, with copper set for a weekly fall, as the dollar stayed strong ahead of a key U.S. jobs report later in the day, while zinc pulled back after hitting its highest in more than two weeks in the previous session, reports Reuters.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was down 1.1% at $7,527.50 a tonne by 0700 GMT, extending losses to a third session.
A chorus of hawkish Federal Reserve speakers buoyed the dollar =USD, along with bets that solid U.S. jobs data will keep the central bank on its aggressive tightening path to tame inflation.
A stronger dollar makes commodities priced in the greenback more expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Overnight, several Fed officials reinforced the view that the central bank was nowhere near done with its hiking cycle, fanning worries about a recession that could dampen demand for metals.
"Despite the ongoing supply disruptions, concerns over macro headwinds and recession fears are dominating copper's sentiment and prices for now," said ING commodities strategist Ewa Manthey.
Worries about top consumer China's ailing economy will also keep the metal under pressure until the government eases its strict COVID-19 restrictions, she said in a note.
With China's ruling Communist Party holding its once-in-five-years congress this month, Manthey said there was speculation that Beijing might start to relax its strict approach to containing the virus.
Zinc CMZN3 shed 1.9% to $3,062 a tonne. It hit its highest since Sept. 20 on Thursday at $3,193, after Glencore said it would place its Nordenham smelter in Germany on care and maintenance from Nov. 1, and the LME restricted new deliveries from a Russian mining company.
Aluminium CMAL3 fell 0.9% to $2,326 a tonne, lead CMPB3 shed 1% to $2,037, nickel CMNI3 dropped 0.3% to $22,725, and tin CMSN3 lost 0.9% to $19,980.
