LME copper falls Pandemic concerns continue to plague the market

London copper prices hit an all-time high of $10,747.
50 on May 10 as optimistic expectations for a global economic recovery and additional demand
from the transition to a green economy, including electric vehicles.
But since then, copper prices have fallen back and are now down 12.
5 percentage points from their early May high, as high prices curb downstream demand, China's economic growth slows, the Federal Reserve may accelerate the pace of balance sheet reduction and interest rate hikes, and emerging pandemic concerns have weighed
on copper prices.

On the macro front, the Fed is likely to discuss accelerating tapering of bond purchases at its meeting later this month, which could open the door
to an early rate hike.
The strengthening of the U.
S.
dollar on Friday made dollar-denominated goods more expensive
for buyers in other currencies.
However, lower copper inventories have helped limit the decline in copper prices
.
A decrease in copper inventories can be seen in exchange warehouses around the world, indicating that demand remains strong
in the near term.
At the Shanghai Futures Exchange delivery depot, copper stocks fell 13.
7% to 36,110 tonnes
.
Copper stocks in the LME's registered warehouse stood at 78,350 tonnes, about a third
of what they were at the end of August.

For now, concerns surrounding the Omicron variant continue to plague the market
.
To curb the spread of new variants, countries have introduced new restrictions, which could affect the global economic recovery
.
There are concerns that this new variant appears to be spreading faster
than the Delta variant.
The number of countries reporting cases of infection with the Omicron variant on Friday continues to rise, but so far the market has not yet understood the severity of the variant and the extent of
protection that existing coronavirus vaccines can provide.