FCX Freeport McMoRan Inc

By Katherine Dunn 

Copper prices closed at a one-week high Monday as the dollar weakened and traders refocused on supply disruptions at mines in Chile and Indonesia.

Copper for March delivery closed up 1.2% at $2.6255 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since March 6.

Gold prices were also higher, with the April contracts gaining 0.1% to $1,203.10 a troy ounce.

Over the weekend, the union at Chile's Escondida -- the world's largest copper mine -- rejected efforts by BHP Billiton, the majority-owner of the mine, to restart talks. The strike has now been running for more than a month.

Those renegotiations are unlikely to restart before new Chilean labor regulations go into force at the start of April that could affect future negotiations, according to David Wilson, an analyst at Citi in London.

"It's quite obvious that Escondida is going to go on for a while," said Mr. Wilson.

On Friday, a strike at the Cerro Verde mine in Peru, which is owned by Freeport-McMoRan Inc. began. A dispute over the terms of an export license for Freeport's Grasberg mine in Indonesia also continues to drag on.

Prices for both base metals and precious metals were also gaining on the back of a weaker dollar on Monday, as traders awaited a busy week of market news ahead of a potential rate increase.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which weighs the dollar against a basket of other currencies, was down 0.1% to 91.68.

The Federal Reserve will meet Tuesday and Wednesday, and is widely expected to raise rates for the first time this year, while offering cues on the timing of future rate increases this year.

Precious metals also advanced. Silver for March delivery was up 0.3% at $16.97 a troy ounce, April platinum was up 0.3% at $941.20 a troy ounce, and palladium was up 1.3% at $754.45 a troy ounce.

Riva Gold and Ira Iosebashvili contributed to this article

Write to Katherine Dunn at Katherine.Dunn@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 13, 2017 15:55 ET (19:55 GMT)

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