2023-05-17 08:25:29 ET
London copper prices sank to five-and-a-half month lows Wednesday, before profit taking on short positions led to a rebound.
The latest headwind came out of the Chinese property market, where new data showed slowing growth in home prices during April, reinforcing the consensus that China's reopening optimism is fading, weighing on copper and other base metals along with recession fears in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Earlier, China reported its industrial output rose 5.6% in April from a year earlier, up from 3.9% in March but below the consensus 10.9%.
The dollar got a boost from worries over U.S. debt default talks and traders cutting bets on imminent cuts to U.S. interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
According to Reuters , benchmark copper ( HG1:COM ) on the London Metal Exchange recently traded +1.2% at $8,200/metric ton, after earlier hitting $8,088.50/ton, the lowest since November 30.
ETFs: ( NYSEARCA: COPX ), ( NYSEARCA: CPER ), ( JJCTF ), ( JJC )
Potentially relevant stock tickers include ( FCX ), ( SCCO ), ( TECK ), ( HBM ), ( BHP ), ( RIO ), ( VALE )
Also, copper stocks in LME warehouses have surged 70% in the past four weeks to 86,625 metric tons, the highest since January.
More on Southern Copper:
- Financial and valuation comparison to sector peers
- Analysis: Southern Copper To Continue Outperformance As Global Supply-Demand Dynamics Support Prices
- Stock price return: Up 12.5% YTD, up 28.5% in the past 12 months
For further details see:
Copper drops to lowest since November before bouncing