Live Updates > Live Update Details
2026-02-18 19:16:39
[LME Copper Buying Emerges on Dips, Continued Inventory Increases Limit Rebound] ⑴ Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange rose about 1% on Wednesday, rebounding from a more than one-week low hit in the previous trading day. Trading was thin due to the Chinese New Year holiday, and investors bought on dips, providing support for prices. As of press time, LME three-month copper was up 1.1% at $12,755.50 per tonne. ⑵ Analysts pointed out that the market typically doesn't have a large amount of capital left during holidays, leading to increased volatility and triggering buying on dips. However, copper prices have fallen by about 12% since hitting a record high of $14,527.50 on January 29, mainly due to continued inventory increases. ⑶ Copper inventories in LME registered warehouses climbed for the 12th consecutive day to 224,600 tons, the highest level in 11 months. The new inventories mainly flowed into New Orleans and Kaohsiung, and US warehouses now account for nearly 18% of total LME copper inventories. Meanwhile, the discount of spot copper to three-month copper reached $100, indicating that supply is not tight in the near term. (4) In other metals, zinc rose slightly by 0.1%, aluminum rose by 0.7% and is poised to end a four-day losing streak, lead rose by 0.2%, nickel rose by 0.5%, and tin fell by 0.5%. Goldman Sachs expects that if strategic reserve purchases by the US and potential Chinese reduce commercial inventories, its fourth-quarter copper price forecast of $11,200 has room to rise.
