London copper prices continued their descent on Friday to a 17-month low as data showed euro zone inflation hitting another record high in June, reinforcing fears that central bank tightening will push economies into recession.
According to Reuters, three-month copper ( HG1:COM ) on the London Metal Exchange recently was -2.9% to $8,017/metric ton after tumbling to its weakest level since February 2021 at $7,959/ton.
Base metals equities indicated lower in the pre-market include ( NYSE: FCX ) -3.3% , ( TECK ) -3% , ( SCCO ) -2% , ( AA ) -1.9% , ( RIO ) -2.9% , ( BHP ) -3.8% , ( VALE ) -2.5% .
ETFs: ( NYSEARCA: COPX ), ( CPER ), ( JJC ), ( JJCTF )
Inflation data "looks alarmingly high, giving more firepower to the ECB," Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at WisdomTree, told Reuters. "Every time there's an indication of more hawkish policy, markets fall further."
Even news that China's manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest in 13 months in June failed to boost sentiment.
The most-traded August copper contract in Shanghai ended daytime trading -4% at 61,630 yuan/ton ($9,190.96).
LME aluminum, nickel, tin and zinc all fell by 2%-4%.
Spooked by recession fears, copper prices plunged 20.4% in Q2, the biggest quarterly decline since 2011 .
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Copper sinks to 17-month low as slowdown fears reinforced