Categories: Base Metals / General Market Commentary
Topics: General Base Metals / General Market Commentary

Copper set for biggest weekly rise in 14 months as risk appetite improves

April 9, 2020

LONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - Copper prices were set for their biggest weekly gain in more than a year after signs that the spread of the coronavirus may be slowing lifted risk assets.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) — which is closed on Friday and Monday for Easter — was down 0.2% at $4,992.50 a tonne in official trading but 3.2% higher this week, the most for any week since February 2019.

Copper, used in power and construction, has had a torrid two years as a U.S.-China trade war, slowing global economic growth and the coronavirus outbreak pushed prices down from more than $7,000.

“Copper is moving pretty much in lock step with the S&P 500 stock index,” said Nitesh Shah, an analyst at WisdomTree.

But he said economic recovery and a rebound in copper consumption would be slow and prices would remain under pressure.

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