Copper Set for Solid Monthly Gain
Copper futures traded around $4.6 per pound on Monday and were on track to advance nearly 11% in September, underpinned by China’s stimulus measures that lifted the economic and demand outlook in the world’s largest copper consumer. In the latest developments, the People’s Bank of China announced that it would allow home buyers to refinance mortgages. The central bank also slashed banks’ reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points last week, which is expected to free up 1 trillion yuan in capital, and lowered key medium- and short-term rates to encourage borrowing and boost liquidity. Those developments came after the US Federal Reserve delivered an outsized 50 bps rate cut earlier this month amid efforts to engineer a soft landing, giving other major central banks room to ease policy.