Rising U.S. bond yields and hawkish bets exerted pressure on base metals. Additionally, robust economic reports further strengthened the Federal Reserve’s determination to maintain high interest rates, causing a cautious sentiment in the market. Overnight, London copper fluctuated and closed with a decline of 0.29%, with the latest closing price at $7,961 per ton, down $24, with a trading volume of 21,033 lots, an increase of 5,400 lots, and open interest of 270,675 lots, a decrease of 4,607 lots. In the evening, Shanghai copper opened lower but trended higher, with the latest closing price for the main 2311 contract at 66,410 yuan per ton, up 240 yuan, an increase of 0.36%.
On October 17th, the latest LME copper inventory was reported at 180,675 metric tons, a decrease of 325 metric tons from the previous trading day, down 0.18%.
Copper opened higher in early trading today, with the main 2311 contract opening at 66,460 yuan per ton, up 290 yuan. The domestic central bank’s excess MLF operations have boosted market confidence, and there is still hope for an LPR cut in the future. On the supply and demand side, supply remains relatively strong, but downstream restocking stimulated by the earlier price decline is ongoing. Shanghai copper’s social inventory continues to operate near its lows, which has to some extent limited the downward pressure on copper prices. Furthermore, China’s impressive development in lightweight electric vehicles and rising purchasing power in the end consumer sector are driving demand for copper. Therefore, in the short term, there are still positive factors supporting copper prices, and it is expected that copper will rise today.