Chinese futures hit by headwinds at home, abroad

Chinese commodity futures fell broadly last week on weak domestic manufacturing data, a strengthening US dollar and the ongoing economic uncertainty in the US.

The most traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), for June delivery, fell 1.72 percent last week to 56,730 yuan ($9,117) per ton Friday.

SHFE copper mirrored the performance of the benchmark three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange (LME). LME copper fell to its lowest point in three months Friday, Reuters reported.

The contract lost 1.2 percent Friday to finish the week down 1.3 percent at $7,720.50 per ton.

Friday's release of China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) for February helped erase the week's earlier gains for the bellwether metal.

The manufacturing PMI fell to 50.1 last month, down from 50.4 in January. Although the PMI typically drops during the month of the Spring Festival holiday, the figure came in weaker than the market expected, according to commodity analysts from the Australian Bank ANZ.

Nymex crude oil contract also fell last week, though that had more to do with the US government's failure to stop the automatic budget cuts that began to take effect Friday.

The April West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract lost about 1.5 percent Friday to $90.68 per barrel, capping off a 2.6 percent drop for the week.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index, which weighs the dollar against a basket of currencies, rose 0.4 percent Friday to finish the week up about 1 percent.