China Daily reported that copper fell for a second time in 3 days as the dollar rebounded against a basket of 6 major currencies, curbing investor demand for commodities priced in the US currency.

Copper for delivery in 3 months on the London Metal Exchange fell as much as 0.9% to USD 6,515 per tonne and was at USD 6,532 at 3:46 PM Singapore time. The December delivery contract on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped 1.2% to USD 2.9575 per pound. January delivery copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost as much as 0.9% to CNY 50,650 per tonne and ended the day at CNY 50,710 per tonne.

The dollar advanced against 15 of 16 major counterparts as a drop in equities outweighed the Federal Reserve's plan to keep interest rates at a record low. The Dollar Index, a weighted measure of the greenback against the currencies of 6 main trading partners including the euro and yen, rose after tumbling as much as 1%, the most since September 8th 2009.

Mr Yu Jiaming an analyst at Jilin Jinchang Futures Company said that "There is still a lot of uncertainty in the market. The dollar will continue to play a part in determining the direction of commodities."

Mr Yu said that "I think some people are selling out of long positions ahead of the US employment numbers."

According to the median forecast of economists surveyed, the report will probably show the jobless rate rose to 9.9% in October, a 26 year high and payrolls fell by 175,000.

A private report based on payroll data showed that companies in the US cut an estimated 203,000 jobs in October compared with a median estimate of 198,000.

The Federal Open Market Committee specified for the first time that policy will stay unchanged as long as inflation expectations are stable and unemployment fails to decline.

(Sourced from China Daily)