The central bank of the world's largest consumer of copper again raised interest rates, pushing down copper futures for the third straight day, Bloomberg reports.
The People's Bank of China rose rates by one-quarter point on Tuesday in anticipation of a report, set to be distributed next week, that economists believe will indicate inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in 30 months.
"A faster and sharper increase of interest rates than previously assumed could ultimately have an adverse effect on commodities and metals demand and thus on prices," a Wednesday report from Commerzbank stated.
At 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday, copper futures were down 1.09 percent, a 0.05 cent drop to $4.5240 per pound.
By raising interest rates, China joins India, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea, who also have increased their rates. China, though, has done so three times in the past four months.
"Market sentiment will be impacted by the rate hike, and until we get clearer signs of physical activity picking up in China, copper may be a bit subdued," Zhu Haitao, an analyst at Zhongcai Futures, told the news service.
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