SINGAPORE - London copper prices hovered around a two-week low on Wednesday after inventories climbed by a third and as a new strain of coronavirus from China spread further across the world.

The death toll from the flu-like virus in China rose to nine on Wednesday with 440 confirmed cases and the first case was reported in the United States. The virus struck as millions of Chinese prepared to travel for the Lunar New Year, heightening contagion risks.

Benchmark three-month copper on the LME fell as much as 0.5% a tonne to $6,128 a tonne, its lowest since Jan. 8, but later rebounded slightly to being almost unchanged at $6,161.50 a tonne by 0313 GMT. The contract dropped 1.6% in the previous session, its biggest daily loss since Oct. 31.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) fell 0.3% to 48,470 yuan ($7,024.23) a tonne.

FUNDAMENTALS

COPPER STOCKS: Copper inventories in warehouses approved by the London Metal Exchange (LME) surged by 38,700 tonnes to 162,925 tonnes, daily LME data on Tuesday showed.

OTHER PRICES: LME aluminium fell 0.1%, nickel rose 0.8%, zinc lost 0.2%, while lead advanced 0.6%. ShFE aluminium fell 0.4%, nickel declined 0.7%, while zinc rose 0.4% and lead decreased 0.6%.

CHINA STOCKS: The Chinese stock market fell to its lowest level so far this year on Wednesday, battered by fears over the virus outbreak.

MARKETS NEWS

Asian stock markets bounced as China's response to a virus outbreak tempered fears of a global pandemic, although Shanghai shares slipped amid worries about a hit to domestic demand and tourism.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0745 France Business Climate Mfg Jan

1500 US Existing Home Sales Dec

PRICES

Three month LME copper

Most active ShFE copper

Three month LME aluminium

Most active ShFE aluminium

Three month LME zinc

Most active ShFE zinc

Three month LME lead

Most active ShFE lead

Three month LME nickel

Most active ShFE nickel

Three month LME tin

Most active ShFE tin

ARBS ($1 = 6.9004 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

© Reuters News 2020