Copper exchange traded funds are bouncing along the low for the year and a rebound would suggest a brighter view on the global economy.
Copper prices are regaining some lost ground following the recent plunge, on the back of strong Chinese imports and a slightly optimistic U.S. outlook. [Copper ETFs Fall on Growth, Debt Concerns.]
Exchange traded products that follow copper prices and miners include iPath Dow Jones-UBS Copper Subindex Total Return ETN (NYSEArca: JJC), First Trust ISE Global Copper Index Fund (NYSEArca: CU) and Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSEArca: COPX).
Chinese July copper imports surged 9.5%, according to Commodity Online.
Last week, the Federal Reserve stated that it will hold interest rates at near zero levels until mid-2013.
“The announcement that the Fed’s interest rate policy will remain for some time certainly supported the market and in some ways acts as a form of a brake on the decline,” said Jonathan Barratt, managing director of Commodity Broking Services.
“Also, import data from China, such as on copper, has been very positive. That shows that China’s efforts to slow the economy aren’t working as well as expected,” Barratt added. “And the economy seems to be kicking along in full gear.”
“Copper is vulnerable to the slow economic outlook and the Fed [meeting]minutes indicate the economic pick up isn’t going to happen any time soon,” commented Frank McGhee, head precious metals dealer with Integrated Brokerage Services, reports Tatyana Shumsky for The Wall Street Journal.
iPath Dow Jones-UBS Copper Subindex Total Return ETN
For more information on copper, visit our copper category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.