Copper ticks up as US tech rally, easing rate-hike bets temper dollar surge

SINGAPORE: Copper prices were marginally up on Tuesday, as a boost from a tech-driven US stock market rally and receding market bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike this month were largely offset by a stronger dollar.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.08% at $14,431.5 a metric ton by 0300 GMT, and on track to rise for the third consecutive day.

The Shanghai Futures Exchange was closed for China’s National Day and will reopen on October 8.

Asian stocks rose on Tuesday, tracking the previous day’s gains on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which closed at a record high.

Copper, sometimes called Dr Copper for its use as a gauge of global economic health, has benefited from demand expectations tied to the AI infrastructure buildout, electric grid upgrades and electric vehicles.

Rate traders are pricing in a 24% chance the US Federal Reserve will raise rates in its October meeting, down sharply from 71% a week ago, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.

Higher interest rates can constrain demand for growth-dependent commodities like copper by dampening economic activity.

The US dollar continued to rally on the back of gains in US Treasury yields, weighing on greenback-denominated commodities by making them more expensive for buyers using other currencies. Aluminium gained 0.16%.

Prices for the light metal have fallen by more than 17% since hitting a four-year high in June, weighed by easing worries about supply from the Gulf region and expectations of new production capacity in Indonesia.

In August, Indonesia exported more than 150,000 tons of primary and unwrought alloyed aluminium, more than three times the amount exported a year earlier, data from the country’s statistics bureau showed on Monday.

Among LME metals zinc dipped 0.08%, lead was down 0.03%, nickel lost 0.44% and tin was steady.