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Informist, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025

 

By Ashutosh Pati

 

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of copper on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange rose Friday and are poised to end the week with gains due to concerns over supply. Market sentiment was further lifted after US inflation data cemented bets of an interest rate cut by the US Federal Open Market Committee next week.

 

Copper prices on the domestic exchange rose to a 16-month high of INR 919.80 per kilogram earlier in the day while COMEX copper prices rose above the $10,000 per tonne mark. The Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia, the world's second-largest copper mine, suspended operations after a large flow of wet material blocked access to parts of the underground mine, restricting evacuation routes for workers. This incident comes after disruptions at the El Teniente mine in Chile.

 

"Copper led the base metals sector higher, as the prospect of easing monetary policy continues to boost sentiment. Supply side issues also provided some support," Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ Research, said in a note. "A prolonged disruption at the second-largest copper mine in the world could tighten the market," Hynes added.

 

The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation guage, the US core Consumer Price Index, rose 0.4%, and excluding the often volatile food and energy categories, increased 0.3% from July, along expectations. While headline CPI inflation was 2.9% during the month, higher than the Fed's 2% target, it showed inflation was not spinning out of control. Further, initial jobless claims for the week ended Sept. 6 jumped to the highest in almost four years, to 263,000, against a Wall Street Journal estimate of 235,000. The data continued to back the narrative of a slowdown in the labour market.

 

The CME's Fedwatch tool shows traders fully pricing in a 25-basis-point cut by the Fed next week, while some market participants say there are chances that the Fed tkae a more aggressive stance and lower rates by 50-bps. Traders also expect 75 bps of cuts during the rest of the year.

 

Moreover, copper output in Peru, one of the leading producers of the red metal, fell 2% on year, adding to the bullish sentiment, Kotak Securities said in a note. Traders are now waiting for China's industrial production and retail sales data due early Monday for further cues about demand in the top copper-consuming country.

 

At 1804 IST, on the MCX, the September futures contract of:
-–ALUMINIUM was at INR 260.50 a kg, up 0.2%
–-Copper was at INR 913.50 a kg, up 0.1%
–-LEAD was at INR 182.45 a kg, up 0.2%
–-ZINC was at INR 278.85 a kg, down 0.1%
--NICKEL was at INR 1,332.00 a kg, up 0.9%

 

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 257.60-INR 264.10
--Copper contract seen at INR 907.30-INR 927.30
--Lead contract seen at INR 181.40-INR 184.10
--Zinc contract seen at INR 276.50-INR 283.60
--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,303.20-INR 1,360.80

End

 

US$1 = INR 88.27

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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