(Bloomberg) -- Copper is heading for its longest run of weekly losses in more than half a decade, as base metals suffer steep declines on a strong dollar and lingering concerns over Chinese demand.
While copper ticked higher on Friday, it has drifted lower since late-September and is poised for its seventh consecutive weekly fall. Prior to the US presidential election, worries about China’s economy were a major driver. The greenback’s spike since Donald Trump’s victory has added to headwinds.
“We expect industrial metal prices to remain highly sensitive to any stimulus announcements from mainland China, with market sentiment tilted towards further support in an anticipation of renewed trade tensions with China under a second Trump presidency,” BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, wrote in an emailed note.
Immediate pressures on copper were on show at a major industry gathering in Shanghai this week, with traders, suppliers and consumers in a cautious mood. China’s demand growth is slowing and there’s uncertainty about what Trump’s return to the White House might mean for global trade.
Chinese data released on Friday showed at least some parts of the economy were stabilizing, with retail sales growing faster than expected. But industrial output was lower than forecasts, and Bloomberg Economics said the overall economy was “bottoming out but not yet recovering.”
Copper rose 0.7% on Friday to $9,048 a ton by 11:51 a.m. Shanghai time, paring its decline this week to around 4%. Aluminum, zinc and nickel were all heading for weekly drops.
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