After correcting through much of the Iran conflict to date, precious metals are starting to revive based on a set of ETFs through Tuesday’s close (Aug. 11). Meanwhile, copper’s resilience during the war has endured as the metal continues to set new highs.
Year to date, copper is the standout winner among the main exchange‑traded products offering a pure play on metals. The US Copper Index Fund (CPER) is up 15.1% so far in 2026, ahead of its counterparts and two ETF benchmarks that track mixes of base (DBB) and precious (DBP) metals.
Copper has become the critical wiring behind the entire AI buildout. A tightening copper market — driven by slow mine development, declining ore grades, and surging demand from electrification and AI infrastructure — has created a supply shortage that’s pushing prices higher.
“The underpinning story of elevated copper prices has been data‑center and power‑grid demand to support the rapid AI industry expansion,” says William Osnato, Barchart’s director of commodity data research and analysis.
Meanwhile, gold and other precious metals have rebounded from recent lows, raising the possibility that the correction in this corner may have run its course in the near term. High oil prices have helped push bond yields sharply higher in recent months — a key drag on gold — but renewed prospects for negotiations with Iran could stabilize or even trim crude prices, easing inflation pressure, pulling yields lower, and giving gold room to recover.
Betting markets highlight cautious expectations that gold’s recent upswing will carry it to materially higher levels by year‑end from the current $4,409 spot price (Aug. 11), according to Kalshi data. The odds of a close at $4,500 or higher by Dec. 31 are currently 48%, the same probability assigned to a close at $4,600 or higher.
Comments
Log in or sign up to join the conversation.