Mining and metals investors were piling into the sector’s big names on Wednesday as gold jumped, base metals prices surged and iron ore continued to rally on optimism about global demand for raw materials ahead of a holiday week in top consumer China.
Gold enjoyed its best trading since the Brexit vote in June 2016 on Wednesday. Copper bounced to above the $7,000 a tonne ($3.24 per pound) level bringing the bellwether metal’s gains just this week to more than 6%. Nickel surged 4.8% to $14,100 a tonne, the highest since May 2015, while zinc ended nearly 3% higher to exchange hands for $3,567, a near decade high.
The iron ore price which has been defying expectations of a pullback for months gained on Wednesday with benchmark Northern China import prices rising to a five-week best of $78.25 a tonne.
The last time thew steelmaking raw material traded above $80 was April 2017. Coking coal was also higher at $233.10 a tonne. Premium Australian exports were at $154 a tonne this time last year.
The bullishness spilled over to mining’s heavyweights which outperformed broader gains on US equity markets.
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