But Asian equities, highly sensitive to global risk appetite, were firm as signs emerged that Greece’s debt crisis could be easing.
Australian and Japanese shares rallied early, driven by gains in local mining stocks as disruptions in Chile forced the shutdown of up to a fifth of the country’s copper mine capacity. The 8.8-magnitude quake on Saturday, one of the world’s most powerful in a century, killed more than 700 people and dealt a serious blow to infrastructure in one of Latin America’s most stable economies.
Shanghai benchmark third month copper leapt by its 5 percent daily limit in early trade before retreating, but was still up 3 percent by late morning. The 3-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange struck an early high of $7,600 a ton before easing to $7,410.
Prices pared gains after data showed the pace of manufacturing in China, the world’s largest consumer of copper, slowed more sharply than expected last month. Output and new orders continued to expand but the growth rate for export orders fell, an official survey of Chinese purchasing managers showed on Monday.
“The Chinese PMI data is likely to hit prices of metals and metal producers but going foward the Greek situation would be more important,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist at SJS Markets Ltd in Hong Kong.
Greece may soon announce new steps to cut its budget deficit, a government minister said on Sunday, amid signs that Athens might be nearing a deal with European Union governments to ease its debt crisis.
The MSCI index of Asian shares excluding Japan was up 0.9 percent as risk appetite improved with consumer staples and financials accounting for most of the gains.
The jump in copper prices stoked Japan’s Nikkei average N225, which climbed 0.5 percent as metal shares such as Sumitomo Metal Mining Co rallied 2.4 percent.
