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Iron ore increases to more than 1-week high on upbeat demand outlook, China stimulus hopes

Iron ore futures costs rose to a more than oneweek high on Thursday, buoyed by top manufacturer Rio Tinto's positive need outlook for leading customer China and continued hopes of more stimulus from the world's. secondlargest economy.

The most-traded September iron ore contract on China's. Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade. 2.35% higher at 783.5 yuan ($ 108.28) a metric heap.

The agreement hit an intraday high of 790.5 yuan, its. strongest level considering that July 23.

The benchmark September iron ore on the Singapore. Exchange was 1.91% higher at $102.85 a load, as of 0720 GMT.

Rio Tinto, the world's biggest iron ore manufacturer,. reported greater first-half underlying earnings on Wednesday and. its upbeat comments on China enhanced iron ore agreements, ANZ. analysts stated in a note.

The company sees the Chinese economy growing plus or minus. 5%, which need to support strong commodities demand, Rio's CEO. Jakob Stausholm stated.

Stausholm mentioned the massive effect of China's green. transition on steel need, which he also expects to feed into. greater usage of high-grade iron ore.

Weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data added to hopes. for further government stimulus, stated Westpac analysts.

A private-sector survey published on Thursday found China's. factory activity diminished for the very first time in 9 months,. coming on the heels of an official PMI study that showed. production activity slipped to a five-month low.

Still, China has the ability and confidence to achieve its. full-year growth target of around 5% and will work to actively. broaden domestic need, state organizer officials said.

Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE fell, with coking. coal and coke down 1.68% and 1.18%,. respectively.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were. higher. Rebar climbed up almost 1.1%, hot-rolled coil. included nearly 0.8%, stainless-steel advanced. about 0.7%, and wire rod inched up 0.24%.

(source: Reuters)