Copper prices are eyeing up their biggest weekly rally in 35 years following Donald Trump’s pledge to boost infrastructure spending
Copper prices are eyeing their biggest weekly rally in 35 years today following US president-elect Donald Trump's commitment earlier this week to boost infrastructure spending.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was trading up 3.5 per cent to $5,601 per tonne, a level it hasn't reached since mid-2015, and up more than $700 since this time last week.
Prices have also been buoyed by a surge in Chinese steel and coal prices.
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Copper miners such as Antofagasta (a FTSE 100 riser today), BHP Billiton, Glencore, KAZ Minerals and Vedanta Resources have all excelled in the FTSE 350 pack this week as the post-US election commodity climb injected renewed optimism into metals groups.
After looking set to end the year flat just three weeks ago, London Metal Exchange copper prices have rallied by around a quarter, leading some analysts to turn from their previously bearish sentiment on the metal.
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"I think we're out of a bear market and into a bull market for copper. I turned bullish about a month ago," said UBS analyst Daniel Morgan in Sydney.
Earlier this year, rising stockpiles of copper and other precious metals at exchanges added to worries that global demand would fail to return to the market after a crash in prices throughout most of 2015 and 2016.