(Reuters) – London copper slipped on Monday as investors shrugged off a potential strike at the world’s largest copper mine and focused instead on a raft of economic reports that may indicate slowing growth in top metals consumer China.
“The prices of industrial metals could take a hit early in the week as we expect both the ‘official’ and Caixin China manufacturing PMIs to have fallen in July,” Capital Economics said in a report.
China’s official purchasing manager index (PMI) guage which is mostly concerned with orders at state-owned enterprises, is due on Tuesday while the Caixin report, an indicator of the health of smaller firms, will be released on Wednesday. Growth in China’s factory sector is expected to have slowed for a second month in July amid softer domestic investment and as the worsening trade dispute with the United States clouds the outlook for external demand.
