New York, September 1 news: Copper futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (COMEX) rose on Friday, rising for the second consecutive week on the weekly chart, mainly due to an improved demand outlook in China.
As of the close, copper futures rose by 2.95 cents to 3.4 cents. Among them, the most actively traded December 2023 copper closed at $3.852 per pound, up 3 cents or 0.78% from the previous trading day.
December copper traded in a range of $3.829 to $3.9085.
Copper rose 1.80% for the week, its second straight weekly gain after rising 1.51% last week.
More policies to support the housing sector in China this week and a private survey showing a pick-up in Chinese manufacturing helped copper prices rise for a second week in a row.
On Thursday, China allowed big cities to cut down payments for homebuyers and encouraged lenders to lower interest rates on existing mortgages, the latest moves to support the housing market. On Friday, Caixin’s indicator of factory activity in August unexpectedly returned to growth. This all helped to boost market sentiment.
In a report, CITIC Futures said that the expectation of the government's stimulus policy will continue to dominate the copper market, and copper prices will continue to fluctuate at high levels. In addition, as the peak season for copper consumption is approaching, copper inventories are low and supply tends to be tight.
On Friday, China also announced measures to support the yuan exchange rate. The yuan fell to its lowest level since 2007 in August.
Copper futures on COMEX (near-term contract) rose 0.18% so far this year, closing 11.43% higher than a year earlier at Friday's close. In contrast, COMEX copper futures fell by 14.58% in 2022, mainly because the outlook for global economic growth is worrying. High inflation prompted European and American central banks to actively raise interest rates to curb inflation, which exacerbated the risk of economic recession. In the medium to long term, however, the green transition of the global economy and electrification could help boost additional demand for the metal, which is widely used in the power and construction industries.
From the perspective of the external market, the October 2023 copper futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 250 yuan to 69,470 yuan/ton on Friday (September 1), up 640 yuan or 0.93% from a week ago. Bonded copper futures for November delivery on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) rose 180 yuan to 61,710 yuan a tonne, up 560 yuan, or 0.92%, from a week ago.
In registered warehouses of the Shanghai Futures Exchange, copper inventories on Friday (September 1) were 46,591 tons, an increase of 6,006 tons from 40,585 tons a week earlier. It was 81.5% lower than its peak of 252,455 tonnes.
On Friday, the trading volume of COMEX copper futures was 90,182 lots, compared with 55,834 lots in the previous trading day; the number of empty positions was 190,258 lots, compared with 190,295 lots in the previous trading day.
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