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Informist, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025

By Ashutosh Pati

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of most base metals on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange rose Thursday after the US Federal Open Market Committee cut the federal funds target range by 25 basis points for the third straight meeting to 3.50-3.75%, as was widely expected. COPPER prices were also supported by concerns about supply amid depleting LME inventories, according to analysts.

The US Federal Reserve's decision drew three dissents: Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid argued that the policy rate should be kept unchanged, while Fed Governor Stephen Miran again called for a larger 50-bps reduction, Informist reported earlier in the day. The summary of economic projections showed only one 25-bps rate reduction in the policy rate in 2026, as per the median of expectations of Fed officials. Policymakers raised the estimate for GDP growth in 2026 to 2.3% from 1.8% and maintained expectations of a 4.4% unemployment rate at the end of next year.

At the post-policy press briefing, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed's interest rate policy was well positioned to respond to what lies ahead for the economy, declining to provide guidance on another interest rate cut in the near future. "Monetary policy is not on a preset course, and we will make our decisions on a meeting by meeting basis," he said. Powell added that the US central bank's next move was unlikely to be a rate hike, considering that is not the base case reflected in new projections from policymakers.

"Copper resumed its climb higher as traders remained concerned about tightness in the physical market," Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ Research, said in a note. "The market has shrugged off recent weak economic data in China, including fresh signs of stress in the country's manufacturing sector with data showing producer prices fell for the 38th straight month," Hynes added.

Kotak Securities said copper prices are set to enter 2026 with a "pronounced upward bias" as they remain highly sensitive to policy and supply shocks. The brokerage expects copper prices to rise 10% to INR 1,210-INR 1,220 per kg on MCX next year due to strong demand for electric vehicles, renewable energy, and artificial intelligence-related data centres, it said in its market outlook for 2026.

At 1824 IST, on the MCX, the December futures contract of:
-–ALUMINIUM was at INR 278.95 a kg, up 0.8%
--Copper was at INR 1,099.70 a kg, up 1.3%
–-LEAD was at INR 182.10 a kg, up 0.4%
–-ZINC was at INR 315.85 a kg, up 1.7%

--NICKEL was at INR 1,281.00 a kg, down 1.4%

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 276.00-INR 281.00
--Copper contract seen at INR 1,080.00-INR 1,105.00
--Lead contract seen at INR 180.00-INR 184.00
--Zinc contract seen at INR 310.00-INR 316.00

--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,280.00-INR 1,330.00

End

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

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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