Precious Metals Shine as US Treasury Volatility Hits Copper Prices

The precious metals market saw strong performance during this reporting period, while copper prices remained range-bound. The surge in US long-end Treasury yields to a near 20-year high was driven by discussions on sticky inflation and expanded US Treasury fiscal supply.

The yield on the US 30-year Treasury bond briefly rose above 5.3%, causing concern over sovereign creditworthiness due to rising term premiums. However, the US Treasury's expansion of its liquidity support repurchase facility for long-term bonds helped stabilize market sentiment, with the corresponding 30-year Treasury yield falling by nearly 10 basis points in a single day.

Copper concentrate treatment charges (TCs) continued to fall, reaching a historic low of -$181.25 per tonne, highlighting supply-side fragility. Global inventory structures showed regional divergence: LME inventories rebounded, alleviating delivery pressures, while non-US inventories remained low, and COMEX copper inventories continued to accumulate.