Metals: Copper Gains Amid a Labor Dispute in Chile
July 11 2017 - 11:31AM
Dow Jones News
By Justin Yang
Copper prices advanced Tuesday on a potential supply disruption
amid labor unrest in Chile.
Copper for September delivery rose 0.1% to $2.6510 a pound on
the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold for
August delivery, meanwhile, fell 0.3% to $1,209.50 a troy
ounce.
Workers at Antofagasta PLC and Barrick Gold Corp.'s Zaldívar
copper mine, which produced a little over 103,000 metric tons of
copper content in 2016, voted to go on strike after wage
negotiations failed, said analysts at ING Bank.
The workers still need to seek government mediation before
actually going on strike, which could come as early as the start of
next week, said Robin Bhar, head of metals research at Société
Générale.
"Mine disruptions early this year were helping the price and I
suspect that will be the case the second half this year," said Mr.
Bhar.
Gold, however, continued a downward trajectory as the dollar
continued to strengthen amid expectations for an interest-rate
increase sometime this year.
The WSJ dollar index, which compares the dollar against a basket
of currencies, was up 0.2% to 88.50. A stronger dollar makes it
more expensive for holders of other currencies to purchase
dollar-denominated metals.
Investors are awaiting a raft of speeches this week from U.S.
Federal Reserve members and Chairwoman Janet Yellen. Data on U.S.
retail sales, industrial production figures and the consumer-price
index will release on Friday, providing further clues on the health
of the economy and the central bank's intentions.
Stephanie Yang contributed to this article.
Write to Justin Yang at justin.yang@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 11, 2017 11:16 ET (15:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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