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By Bloomberg

Copper snapped a two-day advance as investors await a decision from the European Central Bank on economic stimulus and before data showing manufacturing strength in China. Nickel extended gains.

Copper slid as much as 0.9 percent after closing Wednesday at the highest since Jan. 13. An ECB Executive Board proposal foresees asset purchases of as much as $1.28 trillion through the end of 2016, according to two euro-area central bank officials who have seen the document. A private manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for January is forecast to show factory activity contracted for a second month in China, the world’s biggest metals consumer.

“The market is still just saying ‘China’s slowing, we’re not going to see the same quantum of demand,” said David Lennox, a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney. “The market is just stuck in that rut.”

Copper for delivery in three months fell 0.8 percent to $5,725 a metric ton ($2.60 a pound) on the London Metal Exchange at 3:15 p.m. in Hong Kong. The metal has declined 21 percent in the past 12 months.

In New York, copper for March delivery dropped 0.6 percent to $2.5965 a pound, while the metal for the same month in Shanghai rose 0.7 percent to close at 41,560 yuan ($6,698) a ton.

The HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics China manufacturing PMI will show a reading of 49.5, according to a Bloomberg survey before data is released Jan. 23. A figure below 50 signals contraction.

The People’s Bank of China is injecting 50 billion yuan into the nation’s economy, using reverse-repurchase agreements for the first time in a year to ease a cash shortage, according to traders at primary dealers required to bid at auctions.

On the LME, nickel and tin rose while lead fell and aluminum was little changed.