Shanghai copper prices up on stimulus hopes

Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) copper prices increased slightly on Friday amid investor speculation that the Chinese government will implement more stimulus measures to stabilize the economy.

The exports and imports increased 7.2 percent and 5.5 percent respectively in June year-on-year, according to Chinese customs data released on Thursday, missing market predictions.

The trade performance led to greater speculation that the government is going to adopt more encouraging measures to boost the economy, according to a report by Reuters on Thursday.

Copper imports declined 7.9 percent month-on-month in June to 350,000 tons, which was the lowest since April 2013.

The decline was partially caused by cuts in Chinese bank lending for metals imports after the launch of a probe into alleged financing fraud at a port in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, Reuters said.

"At the moment, there is some profit-taking triggered by the weak Chinese imports in June. The market had been building up expectations based on the recent positive data but the import numbers failed to surprise on the upside," according to Reuters, citing Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Comerzbank.

The most-traded copper futures for September ended at 50,910 yuan ($8196.51) per ton on the SHFE on Friday, up 340 yuan or 0.67 percent compared to Thursday.

The copper market decreased by 0.91 percent compared to the previous week. The trading volume decreased by 125,034 lots Friday from Thursday's 427,648 lots.

In addition, due to the seasonal reasons, the demand for copper is expected to decline since June. Copper consumers also have the pressure to repay bank loans at the end of June, according to a report by Guangzhou-based Huatai Great Wall Futures Co last week.