(Bloomberg) -- Copper traded near its highest close in three weeks and other metals were mixed as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s bid to defend US growth and the labor market with a half-point rate-cut.
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The Fed’s focus on quashing inflation had presented a key headwind for metals in recent years, along with deepening doubts over the health of China’s economy. While copper is solidly higher this year, its performance has fallen well short of widely-held bullish expectations.
Now, investors will zero in on whether the Fed’s initial move will avoid turbulence for the US, and stem recent weakness in global manufacturing. The cautious response suggests investors remain uncertain about prospects.
The half-point cut is “beneficial to expectations for a soft landing in the US,” Everbright Futures Co. said in a note, adding that fundamentals for copper were gradually improving. “However, the instability of the US stock market performance is also affecting market sentiment.”
Copper was 0.4% lower at $9,364 a ton on the London Metal Exchange at 11:13 a.m. in Shanghai after closing on Wednesday at the highest since Sept. 16 following Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech. Among other metals, aluminum pared the earlier session’s gain, zinc was flat and nickel edged higher.
There have been some signs of a pick-up in Chinese metals markets in the past month, with copper inventories in Shanghai Futures Exchange-tracked warehouses falling back toward normal levels. Premiums on imported copper have also rebounded to the highest since the opening days of 2024, after trading below zero for most of May and June.
“The increase in the medium-term outlook for rates should come as a positive, with metals highly sensitive to factory activity and overall economic growth,” ANZ Group Holdings said in a note.
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