Industrial Metals Advance on Dovish Fed as Stocks, Oil Climb

Industrial metals surged, joining a bounce in riskier assets from Equities to oil, after the Federal Reserve held rates and scaled back expectations of future hikes.

Copper for three-month delivery traded on the London Metal Exchange gained as much as 1.6 percent and traded 1.3 percent higher at $5,000 a metric ton as of 9:46 a.m. in Shanghai. The metal used to produce wires and cables is now back at levels last seen in November, having nosed above the $5,000 barrier earlier in March. Most other metals gained more than 1 percent.

Fed officials struck a note of caution on rates, citing the potential impact from weaker global growth, which may not bode well for metal prices further down the track. One of China’s biggest copper traders, He Jinbi, founder and president of Xi’an Maike Metals International Group, said in an interview he expects the metal to sink in the second half as demand ebbs in the world’s biggest consumer amid a wider slowdown.

The Fed’s meeting follows major stimulus measures announced by policy makers in Europe and Japan that have received a mixed reception from markets worldwide. The Bank of England meets to review its rates on Thursday.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Alfred Cang in Shanghai at acang@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jason Rogers at jrogers73@bloomberg.net, Rebecca Keenan

By: Bloomberg News

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