Copper gains but set to snap seven-week winning streak
Copper rose on Friday as the dollar weakened, but was headed for its first weekly decline in eight weeks, with London Metal Exchange inventories climbing and nearby price spreads narrowing sharply during the week. Benchmark three-month copper on the LME was up 0.53% at $14,111.50 a metric ton by 0340 GMT. The contract was down 0.30% so far this week. The most-traded copper contract on the…
Copper prices edged higher on Friday, buoyed by a weakening US dollar, yet the metal was poised to enter its first weekly decline in eight weeks. Inventories at London Metal Exchange warehouses surged, while price spreads narrowed significantly. The benchmark three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange climbed 0.53% to $14,111.50 per metric ton, though it trailed 0.30% this week.
The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most-traded copper contract edged 0.36% to 107,570 yuan ($16,003.63) per ton, teetering on a 0.07% decline for the week, after a 0.32% fall the prior week. Copper stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange continued to swell, reaching 239,925 tons by Thursday, a 17% increase from 204,975 tons on August 14.
The premium for cash copper over three-month delivery surged to $545 per ton, its highest since late 2021, before narrowing to around $76 in the latest session. Over the first three days of the week, more than 38,000 tons of copper entered the LME warehouse system, following a 42-session streak of inventory declines. A weaker US currency provided a boost to base metals on Friday, with the dollar index flirting near a three-month low and expected to slip more than 0.8% in a single week.
Other LME metals also saw modest gains, with aluminum up 0.03%, zinc up 0.48%, lead up 0.16%, nickel up 0.41%, and tin up 0.44%.
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