Copper prices chart are fluctuating slightly near the level of the previous close as investors estimate a lot of factors, trading data shows.

September futures on copper on the Comex exchange are getting cheaper by a symbolic 0.01%, to $ 3.5515 a pound.

On the London Metal Exchange (LME) in previous trading, the cost of a ton of copper with delivery in three months increased by 1.85% to $7,870.5; aluminum — by 0.54%, to $2,416. Zinc — by 1.1%, to $3,488.5.

Quotes in the morning do not show any pronounced dynamics for a lot of reasons. For example, the price of copper is affected by the tense situation between the U.S. and China, the largest consumer of this type of industrial metal.

Also, the price dynamics are influenced by macro statistics — exports from China in July jumped by 18% year-on-year, while the forecast growth was only 15%, which, in turn, cut some concerns about the demand for metals in its largest market.

At the same time, investors continue to fear a recessionary economy. Expectations of a further increase in the discount rate by the U.S. Federal Reserve System after the release of data from the labor market in the country have increased fears.

Natural gas price Europe per 1,000m3: September gas futures contracts (benchmark TTF) were trading at $2,100 per 1,000m3 on Monday, gaining some 1.6% against Friday’s settlement price in the first hour of trading, London’s ICE exchange data showed.

So far, the current price minimum is $2,056.7 (-0.5% compared to Friday’s settlement price of $2,066.5). The maximum is $2,100 per 1,000m3 (+1.6%).

Last year the European market faced a gas collapse. Experts attributed the collapse to limited supply from major suppliers, low occupancy rates of underground gas storage facilities in Europe, and high demand for liquefied natural gas in Asia.

Right now, Europe continues to be under pressure due to continued supply strains from Russia. Russian gas exports have fallen since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine: shipments via Nord Stream and the Ukrainian gas transportation system have dropped significantly, and the Yamal-Europe pipeline has stopped altogether.

The average monthly settlement price of the nearest gas futures on the ICE increased sharply, by almost 50%, from $1,180 per 1,000m3 in June to about $1,805 in July, while in the middle of summer last year it did not exceed $500. In the last days of July gas quotations reached $2,400 per 1,000m3 for the first time in four months. Such steadily high prices have not been seen in the entire history of European gas hubs since 1996.

Price of gold falls: the price of the precious metal on Monday morning slightly decreased on the prospects of further interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve, according to trading data.

The December gold futures price on the New York Comex Exchange is down $2.75, or 0.15%, to $1,788.7 a troy ounce. September silver futures went up 0.24% to $19.89 an ounce.

The precious metals market showed a negative trend on Monday morning, fueled by expectations of further interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve after the release of the country’s labor market data.

Thus, the unemployment rate in July fell to 3.5% from the June level of 3.6%, while the number of the employed in non-farm industries increased by 528,000. Analysts had expected the figure to remain at June’s level. The increase in nonfarm payrolls was forecast at 250,000.

“Support from geopolitical tensions “was countered by the resilience of the U.S. dollar after the release of a credible U.S. jobs report and hawkish comments from Fed officials,” Ravindra Rao, vice president of commodities at Kotak Securities, told Bloomberg news agency.