Copper price jumps as dollar eases

Copper prices rose on Wednesday buoyed by a weaker dollar amid hopes the pace of US interest rate hikes would slow down.

The dollar wallowed near a three-week low versus major peers as more signs of economic weakness in the United States fanned speculation about a less hawkish Federal Reserve.

Copper for delivery in December rose 3.8% on the Comex market in New York, touching $3.52 per pound ($7,744 per tonne).

[Click here for an interactive chart of copper prices]

The most-traded November copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was up 0.1% to 63,050 yuan ($8,650.02) a tonne.

“The slightly eased Fed jitters revived sentiment, still we hold a cautious attitude as policy and economic uncertainty will continue to dominate the market,” a China-based futures trader said.

Chile’s government on Tuesday amended a proposed mining royalty bill that drew criticism from miners, removing provisions that assessed higher rates for larger miners and linked payments to copper prices, while implementing a flat 1% ad valorem tax rate for large producers.

(With files from Reuters)