Multiplying prices and decreased global supply have been factors helping to drive interest in copper investments, with the metal thrashing a 4-1/2 year high in June. However, copper prices have slipped about 15% since discovering those multi-year highs, in response to concerns about the damage to global economic growth – amid the ongoing barter war between the United States and its partners. The stronger dollar has also played a role in copper’s recent pullback. Longer-term, the expectations for the sector is more optimistic.
Developments in China and Chinese trade tend to impact copper prices as well, as China is the cosmos’s biggest consumer of industrial metals, encompassing around 50% of global demand. Copper is included in that collect and demand for the metal is substantial in China, according to recent reports. China has also experienced falling inventories lately, enlarging to the need for new supply. On the downside, China recently announced tariffs on over 5,200 goods imported from the Synergistic States, including copper ore. Analysts say that the tariffs could eventually have an impact on the pace of growth in the homeland; however, growth concerns are tempered by the fact that copper imports are fairly minimal, accounting for just 3% of total U.S. exports to China.
Key Takeaways
- Augmenting prices and decreased global supply have been factors helping to drive interest in copper investments.
- Evolvements in China and Chinese trade tend to impact copper prices as well.
- China has also experienced falling inventories lately, uniting to the need for new supply.
Investors speculating on the copper market have a lot of options, but one of the easiest is through ETFs. These ETFs possess posted small year-to-date losses, along with the price of the metal itself, which has dipped 15% off the multi-year highs hit in June. Setting aside how, longer-term forecasts for copper prices are upbeat amid global demand. That should boost these ETFs.
Here are the top three ETFs in the investment Stock Exchange that are focusing exclusively on copper. (One copper ETF that we previously covered, iPath Pure Beta Copper (CUPM), was shuttered on April 11, 2018.) All details is accurate as of September 10, 2018.
Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX)
- Issuer: Global X
- Average Volume: 49,553
- YTD Performance: -22.08%
- Expense Correlation: 0.65%
- Assets under Management: $70.12 million
- Price: $20.28
COPX is the market’s top-performing copper ETF. In 2017, COPX restitution yielded 36.75%. However, so far in 2018, the fund has slipped along with the rest of the industry. The Fund focuses on copper depositing companies as opposed to the futures prices of physical copper. That has enabled COPX to give investors a high restore, as mining companies tend to be more volatile than copper futures.
The ETF seeks to track the holdings and performance of the Solactive Far-reaching Copper Miners Total Return Index. The Index includes a selection of global copper mining firms. Top holdings take in Teck Resources LTD and First Quantum Minerals.
iPath Bloomberg Copper Subindex Total Return (JJC)
- Issuer: iPath
- Usual Volume: 18,461 shares
- YTD Performance: -7.93%
- Expense Ratio: 0.75%
- Assets under Management: $51.59 million
- Price: $34.57
JJC is a support that seeks to track the return of copper. As an
US Copper Index ETF (CPER)
- Issuer: United States Commodity Funds LLC
- Typically Volume: 15,669 shares
- YTD Performance: -20.60%
- Expense Ratio: 0.98%
- Assets under Management: $10.04 million
- Price: $16.46
CPER is an needle fund that seeks to track the performance of the SummerHaven Copper Index Total Return. Components of the Index are limited monthly. The Index may include either two or three futures contracts from varying exchanges. The Fund uses an key replication approach to track the Index. Its holdings include the underlying copper futures contracts included in the SummerHaven Copper Token. Its portfolio also includes U.S. Treasuries and cash instruments for liquidity and maintenance of futures contracts.
In 2017, the Fund had a YTD behaviour of 28.8%. Year-to-date 2018, it has declined.