Trump Urges US Fed to Cut Interest Rate, but Tariff Policy Remains Unclear; Copper Prices Edged Up Overnight [SMM Morning Comment on Copper]

SMM, January 24: Overnight, LME copper opened at $9,184/mt, initially dipping below $9,170/mt before climbing steadily. Near the session's end, it peaked at $9,243/mt and finally closed at $9,237/mt, up 0.02%. Trading volume reached 16,000 lots, and open interest stood at 296,000 lots. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE copper 2503 contract opened at 75,200 yuan/mt, initially dipping below 75,110 yuan/mt before fluctuating upward. Near the session's end, it peaked at 75,450 yuan/mt and finally closed at 75,390 yuan/mt, up 0.25%. Trading volume reached 21,000 lots, and open interest stood at 160,000 lots. Macro side, Thursday's data showed that new US jobless claims rose only slightly last week, indicating robust employment growth in January. Meanwhile, Trump questioned Fed Chairman Powell's rate decisions, urging the US Fed to implement an immediate interest rate cut and calling for global emulation. As a result, the US dollar weakened. However, with Trump yet to clarify his stance on tariff issues, copper prices saw only a slight increase. Fundamentally, with the Chinese New Year approaching, downstream processing enterprises have gradually started their holidays. Additionally, high pre-holiday logistics costs have deterred buyers from picking up goods, leaving the spot market in a state of price availability but limited transactions. As of Thursday, January 23, SMM data showed that copper inventories in major regions across China increased by 17,400 mt from Monday to 127,200 mt, up 19,100 mt compared to last Thursday. Most regions saw inventory increases compared to Monday, except for a slight decline in Jiangsu. Total inventories were 42,000 mt higher than the 85,200 mt recorded YoY. Price-wise, with macro policies still unclear and spot market transactions sluggish, copper prices are unlikely to rise further today.