London copper price slips

BEIJING, Dec 22 (Reuters): London copper prices edged lower on Friday as the dollar strengthened slightly and wage agreements at mines in Chile eased concerns about supply disruptions in the world's top producer of the metal.

A rising US currency makes dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for non-US firms but copper remains on course for a weekly gain of 2.7 per cent and a close above $7,000 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange (LME) before the two-day Christmas holiday next week.

"Heading into next year, a case can be made for a relatively higher trading range for copper compared to what we saw in 2017," INTL FCStone said in its 2018 LME price outlook, noting that key labour negotiations "could potentially impact a substantial amount of metal."