HK Stock Market Move | Copper stocks lead the gains as inventory continues to deplete and expectations for interest rate hikes cool down, with copper prices nearing historical highs.

Most copper stocks rose, with CDAYENONFER (00661) up 8.62% at HKD 0.126; MMG (01208) up 8.2% at HKD 9.105; CMOC Group Limited (03993) up 4.88% at HKD 17.84; CHINAGOLDINTL (02099) up 4.75% at HKD 224.8; and JIANGXI COPPER (00358) up 4.15% at HKD 37.64. On the news front, copper prices continued their strong momentum, with LME copper rising over 1.4% during the day, approaching USD 14,400 per ton, just a step away from the historical high of USD 14,527.5 per ton. It is noteworthy that the U.S. copper siphoning continues, LME copper inventories are consistently depleting, and domestic copper inventory levels are at historical lows. Moreover, the U.S. CPI for July met expectations, while retail data fell short, cooling off interest rate hike expectations from the Federal Reserve. Huayuan Securities believes that with copper inventories at historical low levels and the backdrop of declining rate hike expectations from the Federal Reserve, copper prices are likely to break upward. In the medium to long term, insufficient capital expenditures in copper mines and frequent supply-side disruptions could shift the copper supply-demand dynamics from a tight balance to a shortage, suggesting potential upward movement in copper prices over the medium to long term.