Copper vs the S&P 500 (CPER): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, CPER has underperformed the S&P 500 by 5.3 points. Here is where that puts it in the market rotation — updated daily.
Where CPER sits on the rotation map
Copper highlighted against the 11 broad S&P 500 sectors. Vertical: 1-month spread vs the S&P 500. Horizontal: the longer, time-shifted window — the methodology explains the math.
CPER vs SPY: head-to-head returns
CPER (copper) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means CPER won that window.
Data as of 2026-07-13 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
Copper (CPER) is out of favor: it trails the S&P 500 on both rotation windows — 5.3 points behind over the past month and 0.6 points behind over the longer, time-shifted window. That is the lagging quadrant. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #83 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.
On the shorter tape, CPER is in a dip window: the last sessions have pulled back while the longer intraday trend remains intact — the pattern rotation traders watch for re-entries. CPER's relative-strength line has broken below its long-term average — the long-term outperformance trend is no longer intact. That tension — a firm short-term tape against a damaged longer trend — is usually resolved within a few weeks, one way or the other.
The thing to watch from here is the one-month spread: laggards only become interesting when the recent window turns positive first — until then, the market is voting elsewhere.
Copper vs the market — common questions
Is copper outperforming the S&P 500?
Right now, no: over the past month CPER has underperformed the S&P 500 by 5.3 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.
What is CPER?
CPER is United States Copper Index Fund, the fund Zensei uses to measure the copper group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).
What quadrant is copper in right now?
As of the latest daily data, copper is in the lagging quadrant — trailing the S&P 500 on both windows. The quadrant rules are documented on the Zensei methodology page.
Related sectors
Track copper against the whole market
Zensei Edge maps 100+ sectors and themes against the S&P 500 — with the stocks inside each one, rotation history and alerts when leadership changes hands.