Copper heads for weekly loss as AI rout and strong dollar weigh
XLB•Copper was down 1.60% for the week on the London Metal Exchange, as worries about AI investment and a stronger dollar outweighed support from tight supplies in China.
1. Copper prices fall
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.20% to $13,561 a metric ton and was down 1.60% for the week. It touched a four-month low of $13,515 on Thursday. The Shanghai Futures Exchange’s most-traded copper contract edged up 0.01% on Friday, but ended the week down 0.07%.
2. Demand signals mixed
Investors turned cautious on technology and AI-linked stocks after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned on Thursday, raising concerns about future data-centre spending. Goldman Sachs said the main risk to its copper forecast was positioning rather than physical demand. A record $240-a-tonne Yangshan copper premium and an 18.3% weekly decline in SHFE-monitored stocks offered support, while China’s domestic copper premium fell to 775 yuan a ton from 2,615 yuan on November 6.
