Copper dropped roughly 4% to around $6.25 per pound on June 5, retreating from what had been its second-highest closing price on record just days earlier. The culprit, as usual, was uncertainty: investors didn’t want to hold heavy positions heading into a US jobs report that could shift the entire trajectory of Federal Reserve monetary policy.
What drove the selloff
The pullback wasn’t just about employment jitters. Geopolitical concerns tied to ongoing conflict in the Middle East weighed on sentiment, and a notable decline in technology stocks added to the risk-off mood.
Copper had been on a tear for good reason. Chile, the world’s largest copper producer, reported its weakest April output in 23 years, creating a genuine supply squeeze. On the demand side, the twin forces of global electrification and AI infrastructure buildout had been pulling copper consumption higher.
Why the jobs report matters this much
