On Thursday, copper prices rebounded from a three-week low of the previous session, as weak Chinese manufacturing data supported the expectations that Beijing will be forced to resort to further stimulation of the second largest economy in the world.
During European morning trade on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for July delivery rose 1.9 cents, or 0.66%, getting to $ 2,848 per pound. The prices are traded in a range between $ 2,828 and $ 2,852.
A day earlier, copper fell to $ 2,820, the lowest level since April 30, before closing at $ 2,829, down 0.8 cents, or 0.3%. Futures are likely to find support at $ 2,820, the low on May 20 and resistance at $ 2,913, the maximum 19 May.
Chinese data released earlier showed that the index of business activity in the manufacturing sector (PMI) from HSBC in May rose to 49.1 from 48.9 in April, confounding the expected rise to 49.3 and remained below the 50 mark, which separates growth activity from the recession.
Disappointing data increased pressure on politicians to resort to incentive measures to aid the weakened economy.
Since November, the People's Bank of China began to introduce a series of stimulus measures, including lowering interest rates three times and twice reducing reserve requirements for large banks to stimulate economic activity and support economic growth.
The Asian country is the world's largest consumer of copper, with its share of almost 40% of world consumption last year.
Gold futures for June delivery rose $ 2.00, or 0.17%, to $ 1210.70 for a troy ounce, while silver futures for July delivery rose 8.7 cents, or 0.51%, to trading at $ 17.20 per ounce.
Gold rose in price after the protocol of April meeting of the definition of monetary policy by Fed has shown that the majority of the bank's officials believe that the increase of rates in June would be premature, after recent data indicated growth in the first quarter by 0.1 %.
Later today the US will publish a series of reports, including the number of initial applications for unemployment benefits, sales of existing homes and the index of manufacturing activity from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
The USD index, which tracks the US currency against the basket of six major rivals, fell 0.3% to 95.37, being traded below the yesterday maximum of 95,94.
Meanwhile, fears of a possible default of Greece put pressure on the eve of the deadline for an agreement in Athens with its creditors.