Copper futures hovered around $5.15 per pound on Thursday, staying close to three-month highs as investors digested developments from the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump agreed to cut fentanyl tariffs on China by half to 10%, while adding that Beijing pledged to pause rare earth export restrictions for one year and resume soybean purchases immediately. Still, the absence of official comments from China kept sentiment cautious. Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve delivered a widely expected quarter-point rate cut on Wednesday, though Chair Powell noted that another move in December was far from a “foregone conclusion.” Copper prices also remained underpinned by supply concerns, with major miners such as Glencore and Anglo American reporting lower output in the first nine months of the year. Ongoing mine disruptions in Chile and Indonesia have further driven expectations of higher prices next year.
