New York, August 30 news: Copper futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (COMEX) were near weaker and far stronger on Wednesday. The benchmark contract rose for the third consecutive trading day, and the weak dollar supported the rise in copper prices.
As of the close, copper futures ranged from a rise of 0.7 cents to a fall of 0.95 cents. Among them, the most actively traded copper futures for December 2023 rose 0.5 cents or 0.13% to close at $3.844 per pound.
December copper traded in a range of $3.812 to $3.8505.
On Wednesday, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index fell for the third consecutive day, closing at 103.093, down 0.37% from Tuesday. A weaker dollar means copper is more attractive to buyers holding other currencies.
The near-term COMEX copper contract is down 5.24% so far this month and down 0.54% so far this year. Closing prices on Wednesday were up 7.57% from a year earlier. Current copper prices are 23.21% lower than their all-time peak of $4.929 in March 2022, as high interest rates weigh on economic growth and commodity demand, while China's economy is performing worse than earlier expected.
Copper futures on COMEX fell by 14.6% in 2022, mainly because the outlook for global economic growth is worrisome. High inflation prompted European and American central banks to actively raise interest rates to curb inflation, exacerbating the risk of economic recession. In contrast, 2020 and 2021 copper has recorded two consecutive years of gains of 25%, the global economic green transition and electrification will help boost the additional demand for this widely used metal in the power and construction industries, while copper mines face Disruptions such as underinvestment and production disruptions.
The October 2023 copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 290 yuan to 69,300 yuan a tonne on Wednesday. Bonded copper futures for November delivery on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) rose 250 yuan to 61,580 yuan a tonne.
On Wednesday, the trading volume of COMEX copper futures was 72,375 lots, compared with 91,655 lots in the previous trading day; the number of empty positions was 190,422 lots, compared with 192,481 lots in the previous trading day.
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