MELBOURNE: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper posted a solid 1.2 percent gain to 36,720 yuan ($5,532) a tonne on Monday, helped by a rebound in Shanghai steel which climbed more than 5 percent on signs that a state push to consolidate the sector was taking effect and the dollar dropped on expectation that Britain’s vote last week to leave the European Union would delay the first US rate rise of the cycle.

Britain plunged deeper into political crisis on Sunday in the wake of the referendum, leaving EU and world officials confused about what to do next.

Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer of Ayers Alliance in Sydney, said for industrial metals there were many unknown factors at play but a few definites - one of which is that there was “no change to US interest rates on the horizon”.

A softer dollar should shore up metals against selling pressure because it makes dollar-priced commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies.

“But against that are concerns about economic growth. Hands go back in their pockets, people don’t do as much. So we may have a weaker dollar but we may also have a weaker economy,” Barratt said.—Reuters