CME dropped more than 20% on Thursday after President Trump announced an exemption for refined forms of copper from previously imposed import duties.

The sharp decline came after the administration’s policy reversal on copper tariffs, which triggered significant market repositioning. Bank of America noted that trend followers had been rapidly building long positions in CME copper in recent weeks before the announcement.

Despite the substantial price movement, Bank of America’s analysis of commodity trading advisor (CTA) returns suggests that actual trend followers may have been less active or entirely absent from the copper market during the decline. The bank’s model indicates that most trend followers trading copper futures have now stopped out of their long CME positions.

LME copper futures experienced significantly smaller declines during the same period, leaving long positions intact but vulnerable to further market drops. Bank of America warned that these positions remain at risk of stopping out if prices continue to fall.

In contrast to copper’s performance, strengthened following Thursday’s jobs report, helping traders avoid stop-loss triggers. Bank of America reported that medium to longer-term trend followers maintain near-maximum long positions in gold.
Source: Investing.com