COMEX October 19 Copper Roundup

New York, October 19: Copper futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (COMEX) rose for the second consecutive day on Thursday.

As of the close, copper futures rose by 0.95 cents to 1.4 cents, with the most actively traded December 2023 copper futures closing at $3.601/lb, up 1.4 cents or 0.39% from the previous trading day.

December copper futures traded in a trading range of $3.5665 to $3.612.

So far this week, the benchmark copper contract has risen 0.84 percentage points.

The U.S. dollar exchange rate index closed at 106.046 points on Thursday, down 0.29% from Wednesday. A weaker dollar means copper is cheaper for buyers holding other currencies, supporting demand and prices.

Analysts pointed out that the copper market continues to benefit from the support of positive economic data in China. China's third-quarter GDP growth announced on Wednesday exceeded expectations, and investment bank economists believe that a series of stimulus measures implemented by the Chinese government have finally worked.

However, Chinese real estate company Country Garden failed to repay US$15 million in debt, raising concerns that the gloom in the real estate market has not cleared up and continues to plague the economy and the outlook for metal demand.

Earlier this week Antofagasta reported a 16% year-on-year increase in copper production in the third quarter, which also undermined some bullish arguments about tight supply.

COMEX copper futures (near-term contract) have fallen 3.61% so far this month and 5.62% so far this year. Thursday’s closing price is still 4.07% higher than the same period last year, but lower than the historical peak of $4.929 hit on March 4, 2022. 27.14%. For comparison, COMEX copper futures fell 14.58% in 2022, reflecting concerns about the global economic growth outlook. High inflation has prompted European and American central banks to actively raise interest rates to curb inflation, while rising borrowing costs have intensified the risk of economic recession. In the medium to long term, the green transition of the global economy and the electrification of the global economy could help boost additional demand for this widely used metal in the power and construction industries, while copper mine production has been disrupted.

On Thursday, the most actively traded November copper futures contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed down 20 yuan to 66,490 yuan per ton. Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) December bonded copper rose 100 yuan to close at 58,920 yuan per ton.

On Thursday, the trading volume of COMEX copper futures was 79,039 lots, compared with 81,790 lots on the previous trading day; the short volume was 219,875 lots, compared with 220,619 lots on the previous trading day.