Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
The copper price fell on Friday as the US dollar rose to a 20-year high and as global equities tumbled on worries over a higher interest rate environment hurting global growth.
Copper for delivery in July fell 0.5% from Thursday’s settlement price, touching $4.26 per pound ($9,391 per tonne) midday Friday on the Comex market in New York.
Click here for an interactive chart of copper prices
The most-active June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.3% to 72,100 yuan ($10,783.89).
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by half a percentage point, the biggest jump in 22 years, to fight against soaring inflation.
A stronger dollar makes greenback-denominated metals expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Further, China’s zero-covid policy has taken a toll on the market.
Officials at all levels of government should “resolutely fight with any words and acts distorting, doubting and denying China’s covid control policy,” said President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
“That may serve to dampen some hopes of any covid-19 policy shift, which suggests that economic recovery will remain prolonged and uneven,” wrote Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist at IG Group.
Read More: Copper mining, like politics, is now the art of the possible
(With files from Reuters and Bloomberg)
