Shanghai copper falls on policy outlook, lackluster August data

The Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) copper prices fell on Friday partly due to investors' concern over policy outlook in China and also the weak economic data in August.

"It seems the Chinese central government is still insisting on boosting the economy through comprehensive reform, rather than stimulus measures," said a report by London-based metal information portal Metal Bulletin on Friday, citing Wu Jiang, analyst with Galaxy Futures in Beijing.

Also, the copper market was negatively impacted by the weak housing data both in the US and China which raised concerns over a weaker demand in the future, according to a report by Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) on Friday.

Among a pool of 70 major cities in China, new home prices dropped in 68 cities in August compared from July.

Meanwhile, US housing starts fell 14.4 percent in August to an annual rate of 956,000 units compared to July, according to the US Commerce Department on September 18.

"With nearly 50 percent of copper consumed in this sector in both countries, this impacted sentiment greatly," the report from ANZ said.

The most-traded copper contract for November ended at 48,770 yuan ($7,924) per ton on the SHFE on Friday, down 340 yuan or 0.69 percent from Thursday.

The copper price was up 180 yuan on Friday from the previous Friday, September 12. The trading volume climbed 27,568 lots on Friday from Thursday's 301,438 lots.

Along with some other pessimistic data for August, the copper market will continue to decline in a short term, a report from Shanghai-based Huawen Futures Co said on Saturday.