Shanghai copper strengthens on rising bets for December Fed rate cut

Shanghai copper extended gains to a fourth straight session on Thursday, as fresh hopes for a December interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve continued to support sentiment.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed daytime trading up 0.35% to 86,990 yuan ($12,285.33) per metric ton, after hitting 87,300 yuan earlier this session, the highest since November 14.

The benchmark three-month copper eased 0.44% to $10,927 a ton, as of 0753 GMT.

The ease came after the London copper broke above $11,000 a ton on Wednesday, hitting $11,025, the highest since October 30.

The market is pricing in a probability of more than 80% of a cut in December by the Fed, up from around 30% a week ago, ING analysts said in a note.

The rising hopes came as U.S. data published on Tuesday showed softening retail sales and weakened consumer confidence, backing another rate cut this year.

Meanwhile, Codelco, the world's top copper producer, is pushing for a high premium as high as $350 a ton for Chinese consumers, a sharp hike from last year's $89, which risked some Chinese buyers walking away from signing a term contract this year, Reuters reported, as copper market players gathered for the Asia Copper Week in Shanghai.

Nicholas Snowdon, a high-profile copper bull and the head of metals research at Mercuria, said he saw more price record for copper in 2025, citing the short supply of copper concentrates, when giving a keynote session at the World Copper Conference 2025 on Wednesday.

Elsewhere among SHFE base metals, aluminium gained 0.26%, zinc added 0.25%, tin surged 2.11%, lead declined 0.67%, and nickel dropped 0.53%.

Among other LME metals, aluminium dipped 0.26%, zinc dropped 0.21%, lead lost 0.10%, nickel ticked 0.15% higher and tin rose 0.89%.