Copper gains but set to snap seven-week winning streak

Copper edged up on Friday as a softer dollar supported base metals, but the metal was on course for its first weekly fall in eight weeks, according to Business Recorder. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange, the benchmark contract, gained 0.53% to $14,111.50 a metric ton by 0340 GMT, though it was 0.30% down so far this week.

Stocks in LME-monitored warehouses kept building, and holdings reached 239,925 tons on Thursday. That figure is up just over 17% on the 204,975 tons recorded on Aug 14, which was the lowest since February. Cash copper's premium over three-month delivery widened to $545 a ton on Monday, its largest since late 2021, before shrinking to roughly $76 in the current session.

The dollar index sat close to its lowest in three months, and the greenback was set to fall more than 0.8% over the week. Weighing on the currency was a US Treasury decision to double purchases of longer-dated debt, to at least $4 billion for each operation, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signalled on Thursday that repurchases could rise further. Investor worries over the country's fiscal outlook also persisted.