The Weakening Dollar and Surging Hot Money Drive Copper to Record High

Copper prices hit an all-time high of over $14,000 per ton on Thursday, January 29, as speculators ramped up buying pressure—fueled by strong demand expectations, a weaker dollar, and geopolitical worries. They brushed off analyst warnings that high prices would cool physical demand from industrial users, and current supply-demand fundamentals don’t justify the level. London Metal Exchange (LME) benchmark three-month copper futures jumped 7.9% in Asian trading, hitting a record $14,125 per ton. Britannia Global Markets analyst Neil Welsh noted in a report: “Copper posted its biggest single-day gain in years, driven by heavy long-side speculative trading. Investors are piling into base metals on bets of strong U.S. economic growth and higher global spending on data centers, robotics, and power infrastructure.” A weaker U.S. dollar also boosted metal prices. The dollar index neared multi-year lows, lowering costs for buyers of dollar-denominated commodities using other currencies. (FX168)