[Ferro-Alloys.com] London copper prices edged lower on Thursday, paring gains from the previous session as investors await the key European Central Bank meeting later in the day, with hopes for details of a new bond-buying programmer. 

 

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had lost 0.4 percent to USD7,706.75 per tonne by 0102 GMT, easing from the previous session's high of USD7,750, the highest since late July.

 

The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 0.9 percent to RMB56,210 a tonne.

 

Investors are waiting for the ECB policy meeting later in the day, expecting the bank to announce a bond-buying programmer aimed at cutting borrowing costs. The bank is ready to waive seniority status on government bonds it buys, sources said.

 

Ahead of the release of key U.S. non-farm payrolls data on Friday, numbers on Wednesday showed that non-farm productivity increased at a much faster pace than initially thought in the second quarter as businesses largely held the line on hiring even as output rose, helping to tamp down inflation pressures.

 

LME copper stocks fell for a sixth session to 215,050 tonnes, the lowest level since October 2008. The ratio of cancelled warrant - material earmarked for delivery - to total stocks dropped to a two-month low of 14.16 percent. China's top planning body has approved 25 rail projects that could be worth more than RMB700 billion the official China Securities Journal reported on Thursday, the latest measure to stimulate the country's slowing economy.