London Copper Rose 0.5 Percent On An Improving Outlook For Chinese Demand.

Copper and other industrial metals rose on the London Metal Exchange (LME) in Asian electronic trading on Monday, as the improved situation in Shanghai and the easing of controls helped ease concerns about demand in the top metals consumer.

LME benchmark copper for three-month delivery was up 0.5 per cent at $9,205.5 a tonne by midday in Beijing.

Copper for June delivery, the most active contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, rose 0.9 percent to 71,220 yuan.

In China, after several weeks of strict control, Shanghai has achieved initial success in the prevention and control of the epidemic. From Monday, the market has been reopened in stages, and supermarkets and convenience stores have been gradually opened. The vice mayor of Shanghai announced that normal production and life will resume from June 1 to the middle of the second half of the year.

Over the weekend, China's central bank and the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission announced cuts to the floor on commercial personal loan rates for first-time home buyers in an effort to support the property market, also helping to bolster expectations of a recovery in Chinese demand for metals.

The dollar fell 0.1 per cent on Monday, making dollar-denominated metals more attractive to buyers of other currencies.

Industrial output fell 2.9 per cent in April from a year earlier, compared with a 5.0 per cent rise in March, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday. Reflecting the impact of the pandemic on China's economy, retail sales fell 11.1 per cent in April from a year earlier.

Chile's constitutional Assembly on Saturday rejected proposals for major changes to mining rights. The proposal includes expanding Chile's state stake in the mine. This has helped boost confidence in international mining investment in Chile.