The Possible Fallout of a Fed Rate Hike for Freeport-McMoRan
Not a good day for metals and mining
Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) closed at $7.83 on December 2, 2015, falling 6% from its previous day’s close. The stock is now only a whisker short of its 52-week low of $7.76.
Apparently, December 2 was a horrid day for companies in the metals and mining space (XME). Teck Resources (TCK) fell ~5.8%, hitting a fresh 52-week low. Southern Copper (SCCO), which has largely held steady amid the broad weakness in this sector, also fell 3.4% and closed at $25.25. The performance of steel companies was no better. ArcelorMittal (MT), the world’s largest steel company, fell almost 10% on December 2.
No correction in copper
Falling commodity prices have been the key driver of commodity stocks this year. However, there was no major correction in copper and other base metal prices on December 2, 2015. The LME (London Metals Exchange) three-month copper contract closed marginally down by roughly 0.5%. However, copper producers’ stock prices fell steeply during the day.
Copper prices have been in a downtrend for around two months, as you can see in the graph above. Copper has been trading in the vicinity of $4,500 per metric ton on the LME. Read Why is Copper Falling to New 2015 Lows to find out what’s driving the recent correction in copper prices.
Fed’s comments
On December 2, 2015, Fed chair Janet Yellen spoke before the Economic Club in Washington, DC. In this series, we’ll look at the key takeaways from Yellen’s speech and how it will affect Freeport-McMoRan. Yellen’s comments are important, as they come just about two weeks before the Fed’s all-important meeting on December 15–16, 2015.
In this series, we’ll also be looking at what a possible Federal rate hike would mean for copper producers such as Freeport-McMoRan and Glencore (GLNCY).
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