Palm Oil Subdued to Begin the Week

Copper futures hovered around $5.3 per pound on Monday after sliding nearly 3% in the previous session, pressured by disappointing economic data from China, the world’s largest consumer of the metal.

November retail sales growth and industrial production fell short of expectations amid subdued domestic demand, while fixed asset investment declined more than forecast. New home prices also contracted for the 29th consecutive month, deepening concerns over the property sector.

Sentiment was further weighed by news that bondholders rejected China Vanke’s proposal to defer a bond payment due today by one year, raising fears of a potential default.

Copper, a key input for construction, power, and manufacturing, nevertheless remained near multi-month highs, supported by tightening inventories in London and constrained global supply.

Silver steadied around $62.5 per ounce on Monday, hovering near record highs and up more than 100% year-to-date.

The rally has been supported by tightening inventories, robust industrial demand, and the metal’s inclusion on the US critical minerals list. Demand has been particularly strong from the solar, electric vehicle, and data center sectors.

Additional support came from strong ETF inflows and retail buying, reinforcing expectations of a market deficit next year.

Silver also benefited from a softer dollar following last week’s Federal Reserve rate cut, although prospects for further easing in 2026 remain uncertain.

Despite these gains, silver pulled back over 2% on Friday amid analyst warnings about stretched valuations relative to gold and potential impacts from US tariff exemptions.

By Megan Cheah

Chinese state-owned miner Jiangxi Copper has won the support of SolGold's board after making a sweetened $1.13 billion bid for the U.K.-listed company backed by BHP and Newmont.

After two prior bids were rejected, Jiangxi's revised takeover offer has cleared the board hurdle, bringing it one step closer to the finish line.

Jiangxi upsized the deal terms to 28 pence per share of the mineral exploration company, a 7.1% premium to the stock's price before the initial proposal was disclosed, and an increase from the 26 pence offered previously.

The non-binding offer values the U.K.-listed company at 842 million pounds, or about $1.13 billion, Jiangxi and SolGold said in a joint statement Friday.

SolGold's board said it "would be minded to recommend" that shareholders vote in favor of the deal if Jiangxi makes a firm offer by the Dec. 26 deadline.

So far, shareholders holding nearly 41% of SolGold have said they intend to support the deal.

These include BHP Billiton--a unit of mining giant BHP Group--and gold miner Newmont. SolGold's co-founder, Nicholas Mather, is also backing the revised proposal, Friday's statement showed.

Jiangxi currently owns 12.2% of the issued shares of SolGold, which specializes in gold and copper mining, and has operations in Latin America.

The development comes after SolGold's board rejected Nanchang-based Jiangxi's previous two proposals in November.

SolGold's London shares last closed 8.7% lower at GBP25.75. Jiangxi's Hong Kong and Shanghai-listed shares were up 1.4% and 0.7% respectively in early trade on Monday.

There has been a flurry of dealmaking in the mining sector, fueled in part by companies' push to secure supplies of copper, a key component in sectors from data centers to electric vehicles.

In September, Anglo American and Teck Resources agreed to a merger that will create one of the world's biggest copper producers in one of the largest-ever deals in the mining industry.

Write to Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com

Iron ore prices are lower in early Asian trading due to weak fundamentals, analysts say. Demand for the metal remains at low levels, weighing on prices, Baocheng Futures analysts write in a note. Global shipments are strong, and supply is high, while inventories are also facing pressure, they add. The most actively traded January iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange falls 0.8% to CNY775.0 a ton. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

Gold prices climbed to around $4,320 per ounce on Monday, approaching an all-time high, as investors awaited a series of key US economic releases this week for further clues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate trajectory.

Market focus is primarily on the jobs report due on Tuesday and the inflation data scheduled for Thursday.

Last week, the Fed delivered its third 25bps rate cut of the year.

However, the decision was not unanimous, with three policymakers dissenting, and opinions remain divided on the potential scope of further easing in 2026.

Two Fed officials who opposed the cut said on Friday that inflation remains elevated and that it would have been “more prudent” to wait for additional data before reducing rates.

Gold has surged over 60% year-to-date, on track for its strongest annual gain since 1979, driven by robust central bank purchases, strong ETF inflows, safe-haven demand, and a shift by investors away from sovereign bonds and currencies.

Palm oil is lower in early Asian trading, tracking weaker soybean oil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade, says David Ng, trader at Kuala Lumpur-based Iceberg X. The edible oils often move in tandem as they are used in similar products. Market sentiment is also weighed by persistent concerns about rising palm oil stocks in Malaysia, he says. Ng sees support for crude palm-oil futures at 3,950 ringgit a ton and resistance at 4,080 ringgit a ton. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for February delivery falls 12 ringgit to 4,006 ringgit a ton.(amanda.lee@wsj.com)