Does Copper Have Trading Hours?

Does Copper Have Trading Hours?

Reading time: 5 minutes

This may surprise some readers but copper and mankind have lived together for what seems forever. You can find copper being used as far back as the Egyptian times. Of course, though, its history and its precise discovery remain debated.

Chile was the world’s largest producer of copper in 2022 and houses one of the world’s major copper mines, producing an eye-popping 5.2 million metric tons. This was followed by Peru and the Democratic Republic of Congo (2.2 million metric tons), as well as China (1.9 million metric tons).

What is Copper?

Copper is a well-known base metal and a major industrial metal that possesses a number of unique and fascinating properties. Malleable and ductile—it can be stretched without easily breaking—copper is also a good thermal conductor and remains an integral part of how we live our lives today. For example, you will find that copper is a natural component in almost anything to do with electricity: many of our computers and televisions will incorporate copper.

The applications of copper in the construction industry also exhibit a crucial role in the global economy, and copper’s price movements have remained one of the go-to leading indicators for many investors.

The Curious Case of Dr Copper 

In light of copper’s wide application throughout many sectors of the economy, the demand for copper has proven to be a stable leading indicator of economic health. As a basic demonstration, from the chart below (a 60-day rolling correlation between copper prices and the S&P 500 US equity market index), there is a strong positive correlation between the two markets, on average. 

Additionally, you will acknowledge from a basic visual assessment of copper and the S&P 500 (below) that the two move in tandem with one another and that copper does tend to serve as a leading indicator at times.

Trading Hours for Copper

The hours copper can be traded may differ depending on the market traded. However, you will find that many markets offer a similar structure.

With FP Markets, you can trade the price of copper against the US dollar, as seen through the CFD paring: XCU/USD. Through CFDs, or Contracts for Differences, which are leveraged derivative financial products, the trader or investor never takes physical ownership of copper, or any underlying asset for that matter, as all CFDs are cash-settled. 

As you can see from the specifications tab from the FP Markets MetaTrader 4 (MT4) trading platform, quote and trading hours are from 3 am to 9 pm server time (GMT+2 with FP Markets), with a six-hour break in between from Monday to Friday.  

Trade CFDs with FP Markets Today

At FP Markets, in addition to trading the price of copper, market participants can access a wide selection of commodities, such as soft commodities, like wheat, corn, cocoa and coffee against the US dollar, together with hard commodities, such as precious metals—spot gold (XAU/USD) and spot silver (XAG/USD), for example—and energy markets, like WTI and Brent crude oil. 

Through world-class trading platforms, such as MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5) and cTrader, as well as an unparalleled 24/7 multilingual customer support service, FP Markets has long been recognised as a one-stop destination for commodities trading. Consider opening a demo Trading Account today and explore and trade this wide and unique space.