Copper prices fall ahead of Fed interest rate decision

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BEIJING — Copper prices, often used as an economic metric, fell on Wednesday as investors anticipated another aggressive interest rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.4% to $7,730 a tonne at 01:41 GMT, while October’s most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.1% at 62,400 yuan ($8,872.46) per ton.

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The Fed began a two-day meeting on Tuesday, with rate futures traders predicting an 83% chance of a 75 basis point hike and a 17% chance of a 100 basis point hike. FEDWATCH

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The U.S. dollar strengthened on Tuesday to a nearly two-decade high, making it more expensive for holders of other currencies to buy commodities at dollar prices.

Some metals, however, were supported by expectations of stronger demand in China thanks to strong operating rates among end-user manufacturers in September and October.

China’s Shanghai Mall on Tuesday announced eight infrastructure projects with a total investment of 1.8 trillion yuan to revive a COVID-hit economy.

Nickel ShFE gained 0.8% to 195,980 yuan a ton, tin rose 2% to 181,260 yuan a ton, while aluminum lost 1.2% to 18,490 yuan a ton, to following Tuesday’s data showing global primary aluminum production rose 3.5% in August to 5.89 million tonnes.

Aluminum on the LME was down 0.2% at $2,241 a tonne, lead was down 0.2% at $1,877 a tonne, zinc was down 0.2% at $3,121.50 the ton.

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($1 = 7.0330 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Dominique Patton; Editing by Devika Syamnath)