Copper charges through $5,000 mark ahead of Bank of England rate decision tomorrow
Expectations for some long-awaited action over at the Bank of England helped copper surge past $5,000 per tonne today.
Copper on the London Metal Exchange jumped as high as $5,032 a tonne, its strongest since 29 April, before falling back to $4,869 in mid-afternoon trading.
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It was also boosted after data showed Chinese copper imports fell 2.3 per cent to 420,000 tonnes in June. This prompted investors to bet Beijing would also opt for more monetary stimulus.
Investors expect the BoE to change interest rates for the first time since March 2009 tomorrow — cutting the benchmark by 25 basis points following the UK's vote to leave the European Union.
It comes as economic policymakers around the world gear up to further ease monetary policy. Copper usually rises in response to stimulus measures such as quantitative easing, or interest rate cuts.
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In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered a new round of fiscal stimulus spending today in the wake of an election victory.
Market mavens also believe the European Central Bank will take a dovish stance at its policy review a week later.