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Copper Prices Surge to a Five-Month High, Multiple Positive Factors Converge! ⑴ Copper prices surged, reaching a more than five-month high, primarily driven by market optimism about US interest rate cuts and concerns about potential supply shortages. On Friday (Beijing Time), the three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange climbed to $10,097 per ton, its highest level since March 26th, and has risen approximately 15% so far this year. ⑵ The latest US unemployment benefit application data, which unexpectedly surged, further solidified market expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut. This optimism also drove gains across the base metals market, including copper. Analysts noted that the consensus market expectation was a 25 basis point rate cut, but the actual cut may exceed expectations, injecting strong bullish momentum into the market. ⑶ In terms of trading strategy, Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) funds actively bought copper prices when they fell below the key psychological level of $10,000, driving further price increases. Subsequently, strong demand from the Asian market also joined in pushing up prices. It is particularly noteworthy that the main copper contract of the Shanghai Futures Exchange performed well, with an increase of 1.22%, demonstrating the strong purchasing power of the Asian market. ⑷ Concerns on the supply side also provided strong support for copper prices. Operations at Grasberg Copper Mine, one of the largest copper mines in Indonesia, were suspended due to mine rescue work. In addition, Peru's copper production in July fell 2% year-on-year to 228,007 tons. As the world's third largest copper producer, its production decline has undoubtedly exacerbated the market's supply tensions. ⑸ Against this backdrop, other base metals also generally rose. Nickel prices led the gains as Indonesia cracked down on illegal mining. The prices of metals such as aluminum, zinc, lead and tin also rose to varying degrees, showing an overall recovery in the metal market.