Why Copper Stock Freeport-McMoRan Sizzled This Week
Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) shares were on fire this week, popping 14.3%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. A torrid run in metal prices has sparked strong investor interest in the copper stock ahead of the company's quarterly earnings release.
As metals and mining markets are cyclical and volatile, prices of base metals can remain stagnant for long periods of time. That's what's happened with copper prices -- they've languished since the beginning of the decade. This year, though, the price of copper started to rally alongside other metals, but no one could have predicted the kind of dramatic rally we're witnessing right now: Copper just hit a record high of $4.78 per pound, or roughly $10,518 per metric ton on the Commodities Exchange, or COMEX.
The biggest trigger for this stunning price surge is tight global supply, with copper inventories at the London Metal Exchange (LME) tumbling to levels last seen in 1974. Yes, you read that right. As last reported, the LME had only around 14,150 metric tons of copper not earmarked for delivery. For perspective, nearly 25 million metric tons of copper are consumed globally every year.
Source Fool.com
