Copper Prices Fall on Lack of Demand

Reuters reported that copper prices were down to a one-week low on Monday investors play “wait-and-see” with the markets. Chinese infrastructure plans, ECB and US Federal Reserve policy easing have ebbed investor interest, furthermore, growing uncertainty over the fate of Spain has pushed the euro down.

As quoted in the market news:

Copper also eased due to weak demand from top consumer China ahead of a week-long national holiday, with Chinese manufacturers still waiting to see orders related to Beijing’s infrastructure expansion plans.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange closed at $8,183 a tonne, having earlier hit its lowest in more than a week at $8,150 a tonne. It closed at $8,281.5 on Friday.

Copper, used in power and construction, hit a 4-1/2 month high last week of $8,422 a tonne.

Macquarie analyst, Ryan Belshaw, stated:

People are in a wait-and-see mode. I think markets don’t appreciate what the impact (of central bank measures) can be. Most of these measures are unlimited in nature, they take time to flow through. We see prices pretty well supported through to the year-end.