Anglo American<\/a> shares were 5% higher at midday in London, with Rio Tinto<\/a> and Glencore<\/a> both up 4.5% and Antofagasta<\/a> up 3%.<\/p>\n The gains come amid turbulence in the copper market, where prices are at a record high and the premium paid by U.S. buyers<\/a> over those in the rest of the world is soaring, following this week’s unexpected announcement that<\/a> 50% U.S. duties will be introduced on Aug. 1 \u2014 at the top end of expectations.<\/p>\n Stock Chart IconStock chart icon Anglo American share price.<\/p>\n The news is mixed for the mining giants, which have large operations in key U.S. copper export locations such as Chile, with uncertainty over supply and demand dynamics massively elevated. A broad price spike may be beneficial to producers in the short-term, according to Hargreaves Lansdown’s head of money and markets, Susannah Streeter.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, the main beneficiaries of higher U.S. copper prices are its major domestic mining companies which sell on Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) pricing, according to analysts<\/a>, which are set to see higher realized revenues.<\/p>\n The U.S. imports just under half its copper, and is widely considered unlikely to be able to ramp up production enough to significantly alter that mix in the short-term, putting continued pressure on prices.<\/p>\n It has been a rough year so far for Europe-listed mining firms, which saw the worst performance among Stoxx 600<\/a> sectors in the first half, even as commodities such as gold have rallied<\/a>. Shares have pulled back from their April lows, but firms including Rio Tinto are down in the year-to-date as poor weather disrupted operations<\/a>.<\/p>\n The companies are meanwhile sensitive to expectations for global growth, which have been dented this year by U.S. tariff uncertainty, along with economic signals from resource-hungry China.<\/p>\n Maurizio Carulli, global energy and mining analyst at Quilter Cheviot, told CNBC on Thursday that mining gains were being supported by data showing a rise in Chinese construction machinery sales, a key indicator for the Chinese economy.<\/p>\n News on Wednesday that some members of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s voting committee expect interest rate cuts to be appropriate later this year<\/a> is also positive for the sector, he said.<\/p>\n Stock Chart IconStock chart icon FTSE 100.<\/p>\n “Finally, there has been somewhat of a technical rebound after the [mining] sector showed a bit of weakness yesterday,” Carulli added.<\/p>\n Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, flagged wider market talk of a “potential new wave of government stimulus in China,” with any support for its giant property sector leading to greater commodities demand.<\/p>\n “Second is a weaker dollar, as that makes dollar-denominated commodities cheaper to buy with other currencies,” Coatsworth told CNBC. The U.S. dollar index<\/a> was slightly lower Thursday, continuing its recent sensitivity to tariff updates<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"hide](\"https:\/\/static-redesign.cnbcfm.com\/dist\/a54b41835a8b60db28c2.svg\")
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