Mining Stocks Fall as Copper, Gold, Silver Prices Decline

Metals and mining stocks sold off across the board Thursday. A U.S. producer price report and crude oil prices above $105 a barrel increased the odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike next week to about 70%. Reports also indicated the White House copper tariff plan had stalled.

Comex copper for December delivery fell 5.4% to $6.5160 a pound. This came a day after settling at a record $6.8885. Gold for December delivery dropped 2.1% to $4,365.40 an ounce, later paring losses to 1.6% at $4,391.00. December silver slid 6.1% to $64.455. Platinum and palladium each lost more than 6%.

Copper’s decline followed a Reuters report. It said the White House has not decided on refined copper tariffs. Officials are weighing the risk of higher manufacturing costs ahead of November’s midterm elections. Gold came under pressure as Brent crude spiked due to rising Middle East tensions.

Major mining stocks saw significant declines. Freeport-McMoRan, the largest listed copper producer, fell over 7%. Its market value dropped to $101.7 billion. Teck Resources and Southern Copper both fell more than 6%, with Southern Copper losing over $10 billion in value. BHP declined 6% in New York, and Rio Tinto dropped more than 4%.

This selloff followed a strong August rally. That month added $357 billion to the value of the world’s 50 biggest miners. Gold rose about 10% and copper pushed toward $7 a pound during the August rally.