Iron ore rebounds as China property sector concerns ease

Nov 19 (Reuters) - Benchmark iron ore futures rebounded on Friday following some positive news from China's troubled property sector, but traders remained cautious over the overall demand outlook for the raw material in the world's biggest steel producer.

The most-traded January iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trading 2.5% higher at 536 yuan ($84.00) a tonne. The contract hit 509.50 yuan earlier in the day, its lowest since Nov. 6, 2020, and marked its sixth consecutive weekly decline.

On the Singapore Exchange , iron ore's front-month December contract was up 5.1% at $90.60 a tonne, as of 0724 GMT.

"There's been a swarm of positive news from Chinese property developers. This is sentiment-driven, nothing has actually changed," said Atilla Widnell, managing director at Navigate Commodities in Singapore.

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Concerns about the debt problems of Chinese property developers, a sector that accounts for about a quarter of the domestic steel demand, had recently added pressure on prices of iron ore and steel.

Benchmark 62%-grade iron ore's spot price in China was $90 a tonne on Thursday, the weakest in 18 months, according to SteelHome consultancy data.