Copper Prices Reach Three-Week Peak as Dollar Weakens

US: Copper prices reached a three-week high on Friday, with lingering tension over a looming banking crisis driving the US dollar to seven-weeks lows. Copper rose 0.29%, hitting its highest since March 2nd at $9,095 per tonne. The depreciating dollar makes commodities denominated in USD more affordable for buyers holding other currencies.

Copper prices rose sharply on Friday, with the most traded May Copper contract increasing by 1.84% to 69,760 yuan a tonne. The dollar was trading near seven-week lows due to anxieties over banks and investors attempting to assess the Federal Reserve's potential for pausing interest rate hikes. On Wednesday, the Fed made a widely anticipated 25 basis points (bps) increase in rates but adopted a careful approach regarding its forecasts due to turbulence in the banking industry.

Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury Secretary, addressed investor anxieties on Thursday when she reaffirmed her commitment to safeguarding Americans' bank deposits. Meanwhile, predicting potential outperformance of industrial metals soon. This is largely because of increasing demand from China's recovering economy - despite continued uncertainty around banking stability. If conditions remain steady, it is expected that industrial metals will prove to be a better investment than previously thought.

The latest news on the commodities market show that zinc rose 0.69%, closing at $2,927 a tonne. Tin increased 2.06% to end at $24,850 a tonne. Lead saw a slight dip of 0.26%, ending at $2,120.50, while aluminium was up 0.84% to close at $2,345.50 a tonne.