Copper prices recover as weak dollar lends support

On Friday, copper prices recovered after a three-day plunge, bolstered by the broad weakness of the greenback.

Futures tied to the base metal gained 1.12% or 105.00 points to $9,458.00 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange. However, copper is still on course for a loss of 0.20% this week, a reflection of the global economic health.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index slipped by 0.02% to 101.81, slipping to a one-month low. Subsequently, investors lowered their rate hike expectations to the Federal Reserve.

Market participants cited signs that the American central bank might slow its tightening cycle in the second half of the year. In line with this, the weaker greenback makes metals priced in dollars cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Nevertheless, the current movement of copper remains doubtful amid the lingering worries of the global recession. Although, softer US economic data could help the red metal gain strength.

Traders now look forward to the release of the country’s headline core personal consumption expenditure later this day. They anticipated the indicator to post a 0.30% growth. Thus a lower-than-expected result will strike a bullish sentiment for the USD.

Copper and other metals

Copper previously slumped as profits at Chinese industrial firms skidded at their fastest pace in two years in April. The metric shrank 8.50% from a year earlier, a downturn from a 12.20% gain in March.

China remains the world’s largest metals and commodities consumer. Correspondingly, any issues in the country would significantly impact the whole market.

Like copper, nickel futures rebounded 5.04% or 1,369.50 points to $28,567.50 per tonne. The prior decline came after Nornickel expected demand growth to slow down to 11.00% at 3.17 million tonnes.

At the same time, zinc contracts edged up 1.98% or 74.00 points to $3,809.50 per tonne. Then, aluminum prices also rose 0.73% or 21.00 points to $2,885.00 per tonne as demand hiked.