Copper price rises as banking worries ease

Silicon Valley Bank headquarters and branch (Stock Image)

Copper extended gains on Tuesday as a deal to buy the assets of stricken US lender Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) spurred risk appetite.

Copper for delivery in May on the Comex market in New York touched $4.11 per pound ($9,042 per tonne), up 1% compared to Monday’s closing.

[Click here for an interactive chart of copper prices]

The most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.7% to 69,650 yuan ($10,134.89) a tonne.

“Copper mirrored gains across the commodities amid the improved risk appetite, but the gains were limited by lacklustre demand in China,” ANZ commodities strategists said in a note.

Regional US lender First Citizens BancShares scooped up the assets of SVB on Monday, triggering a relief rally in financial markets worried about the banking sector turmoil.

Meanwhile, downstream copper demand in China dropped slightly last week due to “overseas macro factors” and rising prices, Huatai Futures analysts said in a note.

Now read: Funds dump copper amid financial market turbulence

(With files from Reuters)