On Thursday, the copper mining sector experienced a collective upswing in premarket trading. Ero Copper (ERO.US) surged more than 9%, Taseko Mines (TGB.US) gained nearly 9%, Southern Copper Corp (SCCO.US) jumped close to 8%, and Hudbay Minerals (HBM.US) rose almost 6%.

The catalyst for the move was a significant intraday surge of over 10% in the front-month LME copper contract, which propelled its price to a record high. Market analyst Divyang Shah noted that while the recent fervor has centered on precious metals, copper prices have concurrently scaled new peaks.

Although copper's year-to-date gains have not matched those of gold and silver, the rationale supporting the bullish trend is robust. Key factors include growing skepticism toward the Federal Reserve's independence, escalating geopolitical risks, expectations of a weaker U.S. dollar, a fragmenting supply chain, proactive market positioning to hedge against potential supply disruptions, and burgeoning new demand from the artificial intelligence sector—all of which are core drivers attracting capital inflows.