Base metals are trading higher due to China's efforts to shore up its struggling property sector, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.

On Friday, McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with correspondent Paul Harris and Srini Godavarthy, the CEO of Li-Metal.

China is issuing directives to prop up its property sector, such as easing borrowing rules to aid homebuyers. Other measures included lowering the existing mortgage rate for first-home buyers and the down payment ratio in some cities, noted Reuters.

Worries about China's economy has been a drag on metals through most of the summer, but cvopper prices rallied this week adding nearly 10 cents. As of 2:23ET, copper futures were trading at $3.88.

Godavarthy noted that there has been significant investment in battery technology as energy transition and EV adoption gather pace. Li-Metal is focused on metal anode and lithium metal production technologies.

All eyes were on the Jackson Hole meeting in Wyoming, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.

On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with correspondent Paul Harris and Stillwater Critical Minerals' CEO Michael Rowley.

Stillwater Critical Minerals (TSX.V: PGE | OTCQB: PGEZF) is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on its flagship Stillwater West Ni-PGE-Cu-Co + Au project in the Stillwater mining district of Montana, U.S. 2023 drilling is currently underway. In the spring the company received an investment from mining giant Glencore.

On Friday Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave a much-anticipated speech at the key economic gathering striking a hawkish tone on U.S. monetary policy, saying that the inflation fight is not finished and the Fed still “has a long way to go” to get inflation tamed.

Powell said the U.S. economy may not be cooling down like the Fed wants to see in order to choke off inflationary pressures. He also noted that the U.S. central bank is prepared to raise interest rates further, if warranted.

Bottom line from Fed observers: hawkish, but not that hawkish.

The world's largest diversified miner, BHP Billiton, released its fiscal year end. BHP had its weakest annual profits in three years – weighed down by soft iron ore prices. China’s sluggish economic revival and the West’s hawkish response to inflation were hurting the miner's numbers.

Regarding China, the key commodity country's economic fate is in the government's hands. BHP wrote that trajectory is contingent on the effectiveness of recent policy measures.

Metals are sliding due to recession worries, higher for longer rates and China concerns, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.

On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with correspondent Paul Harris.  

China is the story that is dominating commodity markets. A handful of large Chinese property development companies are under stress. Today Evergrande announced it filed for bankruptcy protection in the US. Earlier this week China's largest private real estate developer Country Garden missed a bond payment.  

With China worries, investors fled to the U.S. and the dollar gained. The dollar hovered around a two-month high on Friday. The dollar is set for its fifth consecutive week of gains in the longest winning streak for 15 months, according to a report by Reuters.  

As of noon ET Friday, gold had dropped through $1,900 level to trade in the $1,890 range. Oil is at the $80 barrel level, and copper is near $3.70 lb.  

Even critical metals are not immune.  

Tesla (TSLA) has trimmed prices on its Model S and Model X cars in China. The prices are being reduced by more than 6%.  

Tesla is down 10% for the week.  

The lithium index is down 5% over the past five days and trading at a 52-week low.  

There was some bullish news. On Thursday a consortium of Ford and South Korean companies announced a C$1.2 billion ($887 million) plant to produce electric vehicle (EVs) battery materials in Becancour, Quebec.

Gold did not get much of bounce from the favorable job numbers, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.  

On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with Kitco correspondent Paul Harris.  

U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 187,000 last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which released the numbers on Friday. The monthly figure was below the market consensus estimates of 205,000.

The gold market didn't react much. December gold futures last traded at $1,970 an ounce, roughly unchanged on the day.

Companies are releasing their second quarter financial results. In its outlook, uranium giant Cameco raised its revenue forecast due to momentum in the nuclear sector and supply risk caused by geopolitical developments.

Albemarle, a leading global producer of specialty chemicals, reported net sales of $2.4 billion in Q2. In its outlook the lithium miner said net sales are expected to increase 40% to 55% over the prior year, primarily driven by the continued global shift to electric vehicles. The year-over-year increase in Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of 10% to 25%, primarily due to higher energy storage pricing.

The gold market is seeking direction, noted Kitco's mining audience manager Michael McCrae. 

On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with Kitco correspondent Paul Harris. 

McCrae noted that the big news this week was the  Federal Reserve pushing interest rates to a 22-year high on Wednesday. The Fed resumed its hikes from last month's pause. The big data point this week was core Personal Consumption Expenditures price index increased 0.2% last month, compared to May's increase of 0.3%. The report revealed that in June inflationary pressures continues to diminish while consumer spending continues to expand. The news sent equity markets higher. 

Despite the data, analysts say markets are too unsettled. 

"The market is desperate for any type of clarity. Right now, the Federal Reserve is going to maintain their hawkish bias because they want to see inflation go down further, so any soft data that will shift that bias will be good for gold," argued Kevin Grady, president of Phoenix Futures and Options, in an interview with Neils Christensen. 

The drop in commodity prices have been hitting the base metal miners.  

Rio Tinto said its net earnings amounted to $5.1 billion  for the six months ended June 30 2023 (HY23), down 43% compared to HY22.  In a press release, Rio Tinto noted "softer” market conditions.  

Teck that saw Q2 profits of C$510 million compared to C$1.5 billion a year prior.  

Gold approached $2,000 earlier this week but then fizzled as the upcoming Fed hike weighed, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae. 

On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable. 

The Fed skipped a raise in June. There were signs that the Fed is winning its inflation battle with favorable data about jobs and inflation, but the Fed will not be deterred. Analysts say that The Fed is almost certain to hike its policy rate by 25bp to between 5.25% and 5.50% at next week's FOMC meeting.  

Gold finished the week in the $1,960 range. 

Copper was off for the week.  China did introduce a modest stimulus to boost automobile and electronics consumption, but it didn't climb the wall of worry.  Slow China growth has been an anchor on copper.  Copper futures dropped about 2%. Last checked copper was in the 3.80 a pound range.  

Newmont (NYSE: NEM) (TSX: NGT), the world's largest gold producer, announced this week that its Q2 2023 attributable gold production decreased 17% y-o-y to 1.24 million ounces primarily due to lower production at Peñasquito, Akyem, Merian, Cerro Negro and Boddington. However, Newmont affirmed guidance. 

Newmont dropped three percent on the week. Newmont acquisition target, Newcrest, was down 2% for the week.  

There may be some bullishness. Equipment makers have been reporting some strong quarters. Sandvik reported that its revenue grew 16% in the second quarter. Mining equipment company Epiroc said this week that revenue was up 34% in Q2

A good inflation report pushed the gold market to a three-week high, with prices holding solidly above $1,950 an ounce, and sentiment turning bullish, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae. 

On Saturday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable. 

Roundtable covered the lift in metal prices due to good inflation numbers. The Consumer Price Index dropped to 3%. The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 0.1%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting an increase in the PPI of 0.2%. 

Roundtable also features an interview with  Fastmarkets' CEO Raju Daswani. Last month Raju hosted his company's 15th Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials 2023 show held in Henderson, Nevada.

Lithium companies enjoy a funding advantage, noted Bradda Head Lithium CEO Charles FitzRoy.  

On Friday FitzRoy recorded Kitco Roundtable with mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.  

Bradda Head is advancing projects in Arizona and Nevada.  

With energy transition underway and governments supporting critical mineral businesses, FitzRoy noted that lithium companies have more options to raise money to continue their work.  

"There's a lot of support around funding," said FitzRoy. "Whether it's from [the Inflation Reduction Act] or from OEM's or major miners getting interested in the lithium space... that's enabling small companies like ours to grow."

Roundtable also talked about the rebound in gold off the Friday's job's numbers and China restricting the export of gallium and germanium. 

Robert Friedland warned about a coming copper crunch due to increasing demand and dropping supply, noted Kitco correspondent Paul Harris.  

On Friday Harris recorded Kitco Roundtable with mining audiences manager Michael McCrae. 

The bleak picture for gold stocks was also covered. Gold is seeing its worst month since February as markets shift expectations, pricing in a nearly 100% chance of a rate hike in July. 

After kicking off the month above $1,980 an ounce, gold finished June at the $1,910 level. 

McCrae talked about some of his favorite #MinTwit follows on Twitter: @michaelbhorner, @jrminingguy and @miningcatalyst. 

The book McCrae is reading is The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources.