New York, May 5 news: Copper futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (COMEX) rose on Friday, mainly because strong U.S. employment data boosted investor risk appetite. However, due to the decline in copper prices at the beginning of this week, the weekly chart still closed the negative line for the third consecutive week, reflecting concerns that the US banking crisis may lead to an economic slowdown and weak demand for metals in China.
As of the close, copper futures rose by 1.95 cents to 2.15 cents. Among them, the most actively traded July 2023 copper closed at US$3.883 per pound, up 2 cents or 0.52% from the previous trading day.
July copper traded in a range of $3.8225 to $3.906.
Copper fell 0.19% for the week, its third straight weekly decline and fourth in five weeks. It fell 2.41% and 1.97% respectively in the previous two weeks. April copper fell 5.17%. This is also the largest monthly decline since June 2022. In the past three months, copper futures have closed negative lines twice.
Copper prices were also supported by a weaker U.S. dollar on Friday, as it made dollar-priced copper more attractive to buyers holding other currencies. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index closed at 100.999 points, down 0.18% from Thursday and down 0.40% from a week ago.
So far this year, COMEX copper (near-term contract) is still up 1.73%, mainly because the market is optimistic at the beginning of this year that the Chinese economy and metal demand will resume growth in 2023. The closing price of copper futures (near-term contract) on Friday was 9.15% lower than the same period last year, and 21.45% lower than the historical peak in March 2022. 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, a green transition to the global economy and electrification will help boost additional demand for the metal, which is widely used in power and construction, while copper mine production has been disrupted.
Looking at the external market, the June 2023 copper futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 180 yuan to 66,590 yuan/ton on Friday (May 5), down 310 yuan or 0.46% from a week ago. July bonded copper futures on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) fell 160 yuan to 58,930 yuan a tonne, down 220 yuan, or 0.37%, from a week ago.
In warehouses registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange, copper inventories fell to 134,919 tons on Friday, down 2,176 tons from 137,095 tons a week earlier. 46.6%.
On Friday, the trading volume of COMEX copper futures was 71,518 lots, compared with 79,234 lots in the previous trading day; the volume of short positions was 195,592 lots, compared with 195,983 lots in the previous trading day.
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