Copper Falls Most in Three Weeks on Fed Stimulus Bets

Copper market update for August 20th: Copper posted its biggest one-day lost in over 3 weeks on concerns that monetary stimulus from the Fed will be tapering off – 65% of economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the central bank to announce a tapering of bond purchases when it releases its meeting minutes tomorrow. Analyst Edward Meir comments in a report that “The action will likely result in a stronger dollar and a rollback in many commodity prices, including based metals.” Sluggish Chinese demand is also a factor in copper’s slide. In Monday trading in New York, copper futures for December delivery slid 0.9% to $3.336 a pound. Just last week, copper had reached its highest level since June ($3.3835/pound). Read more…