OREANDA-NEWS. February 09, 2015. Copper fell on Friday as the dollar extended gains after US jobs data beat expectations, but losses were limited by a strong oil price and hopes that Chinese government policies will boost demand.

US job growth rose solidly in January and wages rebounded strongly, data showed.

The news put a mid-year interest rate increase back on the table, boosted the dollar and made dollar-priced metals costlier for non-US investors.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) traded at \\$5,674 a tonne, down 0.80 percent, after modest gains on Thursday. In the year to date, however, the price is down some 10 percent.

Still copper is up more than 3 percent this week, on track for its biggest weekly gain since early August 2013, as it rebounds further from a 5-1/2 year low of \\$5,339.50 hit last week.

The rally in oil held on Friday, promising a second weekly gain and leading some investors to buy into commodity funds that include copper.

Investors are reassessing the outlook for global economic growth and demand, especially from China which consumes 40 percent of world refined demand.

"We expect global demand for copper to remain robust.

Chinese demand for copper is expected to benefit from stimulus policies, especially in those industries related to green energy, for example, renewable power, electric vehicles," said Nic Brown, head of commodities research at Natixis, told the Reuters Global Base Metals forum.

Daily LME data showed remained around 60 percent higher than at the beginning of the year.

Commerzbank said the rising supply news was already accounted for in the historically low copper price.

"Although supply is still being expanded, demand is likewise solid. We attribute the increase in stocks in part to financing and hedging positions being wound up.

We see only a limited impact on the price because the changes to stock levels have lost much of their influence," said the bank.

In industry news, world No. 1 copper producer Codelco and workers at its Ministro Hales mine have struck a deal on collective contracts, including wage increases and benefits, that will last nearly four years, the Chilean state-owned company said on Thursday.

Aluminium traded down 0.45 percent at \\$1,876 a tonne, zinc was 0.19 percent higher at \\$2,148.50, tin traded down 1.64 percent at \\$18,650 and nickel was down 1.22 percent at \\$14,990.

Lead was traded at \\$1,856.50, up 0.46 percent.