US Dollar Index Continues to Rise, Copper Prices Under Pressure with Limited Gains [SMM Copper Morning Comment Dec 11]

LME copper opened at $9,198/mt overnight, initially rose slightly, then dropped back to $9,177.5/mt, and subsequently fluctuated upward, reaching a high of $9,242/mt near the close. It finally settled at $9,233.5/mt, with a 0.02% increase. Trading volume reached 12,000 lots, and open interest was 271,000 lots. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE copper 2501 contract opened at 75,160 yuan/mt, fluctuated rangebound initially, dropping to 75,120 yuan/mt, then rose to an intraday high of 75,490 yuan/mt, and finally dropped back slightly to close at 75,410 yuan/mt, with no change. Trading volume reached 22,000 lots, and open interest was 152,000 lots. Macro side, President Xi Jinping stated that China is fully confident in achieving this year's economic growth targets, and the market is also awaiting more stimulus policies to be announced at the Central Economic Work Conference, providing support for copper prices at the bottom. However, ahead of the release of the US November CPI data today, the US dollar index continued to rise, putting pressure on copper prices with limited gains. Fundamentally, from the supply side, as the last trading day of the SHFE copper 2412 contract approaches, suppliers are concentrating on clearing inventory, leading to an increase in spot copper cathode supply. On the consumption side, although copper prices surged, downstream purchasing sentiment remained lukewarm, with opportunistic low-price buying prevailing, resulting in overall average transaction performance. In terms of prices, without the introduction of substantial policies or economic data, the market may remain in a wait-and-see mode, and copper prices are expected to stabilize today.