Shanghai - Copper advanced as metals reversed losses after China’s central bank eased concern about a disorderly devaluation of the yuan.
The People’s Bank of China said it supports a strong, stable yuan in the long term after its decision to devalue the currency roiled global markets.
The adjustment spurred by Tuesday’s change to how the country determines the daily reference rate is basically already completed, Assistant Governor Zhang Xiaohui said in Beijing. The currency pared losses after the worst rout since 1994.
“The reason we’ve seen things stop a little bit is just because we saw the currency fix was considerably smaller and the market is still looking for a sense of what this all means,” Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said by phone from Sydney.
Emerging-market stocks rose and Asian currencies rebounded from a two-day selloff. The central bank said it will step in when the market sees excessive volatility or becomes swayed by herd behavior. The onshore spot rate weakened 0.5 percent as of 2:08 pm in Shanghai, after a two-day loss of 2.8 percent.
Nickel plunged to the lowest level since 2008 on Wednesday, while copper and aluminum sank to six-year lows after the surprise devaluation. China is the world’s biggest refined metal producer and consumer.
Copper advanced 1.1 percent to $5 246.50 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, while nickel, lead, zinc and tin added at least 0.4 percent. Aluminum was little changed.
Shanghai copper futures advanced 0.6 percent to 39,580 yuan a ton and aluminum was little changed at 12 140 yuan a ton.
BLOOMBERG