Copper analysis and ideas: Will bears come back?Copper prices may remain under pressure in the coming months due to investors' apprehension about China's growth prospects in the wake of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, which disappointed the market.
Since September, copper prices have fluctuated within a relatively narrow range (3.2-3.6) after the earlier sharp declines occurred this year.
The long-term case for copper remains strong, as it is a key metal for the energy transition and global inventories are currently very low.
However, one of the main challenges it faces in the near future is its dependence on China’s economic growth.
The brown metal will remain under pressure unless China announces new growth-friendly economic policies to counteract the predicted slowdown in the country’s economy. However, the latest China Party Congress appears to prefer fostering sustainable growth and giving more importance to inequality, national security, and ideological matters.
Copper bull markets have historically coincided with periods of extraordinary global growth, driven primarily by China.
We have now reached a crossroads in that regard, and if China is unable to maintain high and consistent economic growth, copper will have to wait for a new global wave of coordinated investments toward the development of renewables and green energy. However, given the issues with inflation and rising interest rates that we are currently facing, it may still be years before the transition fully takes hold on a global scale. This could take the price of copper subdued for longer.
When we look at the daily chart, we can see that some bearish pressure was forming near the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level of the 2022 range. Also the 50-day moving average has been a quite strong dynamic resistance later. The technical picture remains overall on the bearish foot, and copper needs to clear the 2022 trendline at around $3.75 and then cross the psychological $4.00 mark before materially inverting the downtrend.
