Analyst Forecasts Further 13 percent drop in Copper

Copper prices, viewed widely as a barometer of economic growth, are likely to fall a further 13 percent to $6,000 per metric ton in the third quarter of 2013 on weakening demand from China, according to one analyst.

The industrial metal has tanked almost 8 percent since the start of last week on concerns over slowing growth in China and the U.S. – the world’s two largest buyers of copper.

And the metal fell 1 percent on Tuesday to around $6,825 per ton as investors expressed their disappointment to news of a fall in the HSBC China Purchasing Managers Index to a two-month low of 50.5 in April.

The metal is now down over 30 percent from highs of just over $10,000 seen in early 2011 and Andrew Su, chief executive officer of Sydney-based trading firm Compass Global Markets, said the industrial metal has a lot further to fall.

via CNBC

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza