Copper futures settled higher on Monday followed by a weaker US dollar and as expectations of an imminent US interest rate cut mounted. Moreover, signs of improving demand in the world’s top metal consumer China also boosted copper prices. Meanwhile investors are awaiting minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July policy meeting and chair Jerome Powell’s speech on the US economic outlook at the Jackson Hole symposium for further cues on interest rate cuts.
Copper futures for September delivery gained $0.0370 to settle at $4.1805 a pound on the Comex metals division of New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper on the London Metal Exchange was up by 1.5 percent at $9,252 a ton.