On the macro front, Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole central banking symposium last Friday reinforced market expectations for a US Fed interest rate cut in September. However, his remarks were very cautious, acknowledging increasing risks in the job market while warning that inflation pressures still exist, without committing to a rate cut. After the speech, the US dollar index saw its largest one-day drop since early August, which was bullish for copper prices.
Fundamentally, from the supply side, arrivals of imported copper are expected to increase WoW this week, while domestic copper arrivals will remain flat, leading to a steady and slightly rising overall supply. On the demand side, affected by the off-season and with copper prices fluctuating rangebound at high levels, downstream consumers continued with just-in-time procurement, showing little willingness to restock. Given the supply-demand pattern, it is expected that copper inventories will rise this week.
In terms of pricing, as the market continues to debate the expectations for a US Fed interest rate cut in September, copper prices are anticipated to mainly fluctuate rangebound.