COMEX July 18 Copper Roundup

New York, July 18 news: Tuesday, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (COMEX) copper futures fell for the third consecutive day, mainly because of concerns that the central bank's interest rate hikes will drag down economic growth and the outlook for metal demand.

As of the close, copper futures fell by 1.25 cents to 1.6 cents, and the most actively traded September 2023 copper futures fell 1.45 cents or 0.38% to close at $3.8295 per pound,

September copper traded in a range of $3.803 to $3.8545.

The dollar rose on Tuesday after U.S. retail sales data for June missed expectations, but consumers boosted or maintained other spending, raising the odds that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week.

CME Group's FedWatch tool showed traders on Tuesday saw a 99.2% chance the Fed would raise interest rates by 25 basis points at its July 26 meeting, up from a 92.4% estimate a week ago.

Slowing economic growth in the top metals consumer also weighed on the market. Data released this week showed that in the second quarter (April-June), China's GDP grew by only 0.8% from the previous quarter, down from 2.2% in the first quarter. Analysts expect

The near-term COMEX copper futures contract is up 2.00% so far this month and 0.28% so far this year, closing 15.93% higher than a year earlier at Tuesday's close. In contrast, copper futures fell 14.6% in 2022, as the outlook for global economic growth is worrying, and high inflation has prompted central banks in Europe and the United States to actively raise interest rates to curb inflation, exacerbating the risk of economic recession. In contrast, copper has recorded two consecutive years of gains of 25% in 2020 and 2021, as the green transition of the global economy and electrification help boost additional demand for the metal, which is widely used in the power and construction industries, while copper mines face challenges. Disruptions such as underinvestment and production disruptions.

The August 2023 copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 650 yuan to 68,180 yuan a tonne on Tuesday. Bonded copper futures for October delivery on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) fell 660 yuan to 60,690 yuan a tonne.

On Tuesday, the trading volume of COMEX copper futures was 70,105 lots, compared with 90,052 lots in the previous trading day; the number of empty positions was 213,954 lots, compared with 213,497 lots in the previous trading day.