SMM copper morning comment: Federal Reserve's hawkish speech and the lack of consumption improvement weighed down copper prices

LME copper prices opened at $8462/mt and closed at $8490/mt in narrow range, a gain of 0.49%, with the low-end of $8457.5/mt and the high-end of $8511/mt. Trading volume was 15,000 lots, and open interest stood at 298,000 lots. SHFE 2404 copper opened at 69070 yuan/mt overnight and fell to a low of 68790 yuan/mt . Trading volume was 14,000 lots, and open interest stood at 150,000 lots. On the macro front, Federal Reserve Board Governor Bowman said that if interest rates are cut too early, interest rates may be raised, which will have a certain suppressive effect on copper prices. However, it is expected to be only slightly lower, driven by the continued pull of oil prices. In terms of fundamentals, from the supply side, inventories have been rising continuously and are expected to remain sufficient. In terms of consumption, although the operating rate has recovered, consumption has not seen significant growth. Only low-price hydro-copper performed better. Downstream consumption is still suppressed by copper price, and most trades were under long-term orders. Overall, supply remains adequate, but consumption growth is lower than expected. If copper prices can continue to fall, consumption may continue to improve. In terms of prices, on the whole, copper prices are under pressure due to the Fed's repeated hawkish speech and the lower-than-expected increase in downstream consumption. However, oil prices continue to rise and are expected to fall only slightly.