Copper has some serious momentum, breaking out further on the continued threat of US tariffs on the red metal.
The copper price on New York’s COMEX rallied to US$5.23 ($8.29) a pound, or US$11,538 ($18,299) a tonne, as of late yesterday (25 March).
ANZ Economics and Research FX Analyst Felix Ryan says copper futures surged to a record as the spectre of tariffs on copper imports increased efforts by traders to bring the metal into the US before the levies are implemented.
“Metals trader Mercuria estimates that about 500,000 tonnes of copper is heading to the US, leaving the rest of the market short,” he says.
“The rally was exacerbated by news that Glencore had temporarily suspended copper shipments from its Altonorte smelter after an issue affecting the plant’s furnace.”
Gold also moved up thanks to an increase in inflows into gold-backed exchange traded funds. The precious metal was fetching just over US$3,021 an ounce as of 10am AEDT this morning (26 March).
“About 154 tonnes have been added to such funds this year, according to Bloomberg data,” Ryan notes.
“This has reversed the recent trend, where persistent outflows from gold-backed ETFs have loosened the fundamental picture.”
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 54.7 points, or 0.69%, to 7,997.2 points by 10.30am AEDT. The index has gained 2.16% over the past five days but is down 1.98% since the start of 2025.
Six of the 11 sectors were higher in early trade, led by materials with a 0.53% gain. Industrials was up 0.13% but energy was little changed, inching back 0.01%.
The gold miners dominated early morning trade, with Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) up 3.72% at $2.23 while Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) jumped 3.2% to $1.78. West African Resources (ASX:WAF) rose 2.73% to $2.26.
Deterra Royalties (ASX:DRR) was also among the top movers, adding 2.99% to trade at $3.79.
The S&P/ASX200 is Australia’s leading share market index and contains the top 200 ASX-listed companies in terms of market capitalisation, and accounts for about 80% of the country’s equity market. The index is designed to measure the performance of the 200 largest index-eligible stocks listed on the ASX by float-adjusted market capitalisation.
It is recognised as the institutional investable benchmark in the country.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: ASX & Stock
