BEIJING, Nov 28 (Reuters)Prices of base metals fell on Monday as protests in several Chinese cities against the country’s strict COVID-19 curbs sparked uncertainty and dampened investor sentiment.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was down 1.9% at $7,854 a tonne, as of 0207 GMT, while the most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 shed 1.3% to 64,150 yuan ($8,875.82) a tonne.

Hundreds of demonstrators and police clashed in Shanghai on Sunday night as protests over China’s stringent COVID curbs flared for a third day and spread to several cities in the wake of a deadly fire in the country’s far west.

The protests raised worries about management of the virus in the world’s second-largest economy and sent Asian stocks lower in early trade on Monday. The protests also led investors towards the safe-haven U.S. dollar.

A stronger greenback makes it more expensive for non-dollar holders to buy dollar-priced commodities.

China’s industrial firms saw overall profits decline further in the January-October period as COVID-19 outbreaks flared up and cities imposed new virus curbs, including targeted lockdowns, dampening economic activity.

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Industrial profits fell 3.0% in the first 10 months of 2022 from a year earlier. That compared with a 2.3% drop for January-September, National Bureau of Statistics data released on Sunday showed.

Among other metals, LME aluminium CMAL3 slid 0.9% to $2,342 a tonne, zinc CMZN3 dropped 1% to $2,890 a tonne and lead CMPB3 slipped 0.7% to $2,102 a tonne.

SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 dropped 1.4% to 18,630 yuan a tonne, zinc SZNcv1 slipped 0.5% to 23,480 yuan a tonne, tin SSNcv1 shed 1.8% to 181,050 yuan a tonne, and nickel SNIcv1 was down 2.9% at 193,100 yuan a tonne.

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($1 = 7.2275 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.


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