Copper Reaches 6-Week High Boosted by China’s Industrial Output

Copper prices found their way to the 6-week high. The rally was triggered by China's positive industrial output data. Meanwhile, experts believe the boost resulted from higher USD and the weakening property sector.

The London Metal Exchange featured benchmark copper traded at $8,276 per ton. The price went up by 0.5%. It is the highest high since October 2 when metal reached $8,291 per metric ton.

This is how the metal market reacted to China's positive industrial output which rose by 4.6%. It is the strongest gain since April. What’s more, the output exceeded the predicted consensus of 4.4%. On the other hand, the property sector became weaker despite support measures taken by the Chinese government to asset homebuyers and provide them with lower borrowing costs.

On the one hand, experts predict positive dynamics and a stronger property sector in the future perspective. On the other hand, the higher dollar and doubts about demand remain to be the main stumbling block.

While the USD is in an uptrend, it pushes dollar-priced metals higher. Dollar-correlated assets become more expensive. Investors would rather hold currencies than copper. It can lower demand. Nevertheless, market participants remain positive taking into account the latest metal price growth.

Zinc has also shown its highest high in the last 6 months reaching $2,667.5 per ton. It found its way through a strong technical resistance at $2,605. Zinc rise was the result of LME-approved warehouse stocks’ breakdown dropping more than 50% since the beginning of September.

Aluminum and tin showed a slight rise at $2,230 and $25,310 per ton respectively. Nickel has a slight slippage to $17,430 per ton (0.35).

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