Copper vs the S&P 500 (CPER): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, CPER has underperformed the S&P 500 by 0.3 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 2026-08-28 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
Copper (CPER) is losing its lead. It built a 0.5-point advantage over the S&P 500 across the longer, time-shifted window, but over the past month it has slipped 0.3 points behind the market — the Cooling quadrant of the rotation map. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #55 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.
On the shorter tape, CPER's momentum is weakening: the intraday trend that carried the move is cooling across the shorter windows. CPER's relative-strength line has broken below its long-term average — the long-term outperformance trend is no longer intact. Both signals point the same direction here: the market is not rewarding this group on either horizon.
The thing to watch from here is whether this is a pause or a handoff: cooling groups sometimes reset and reclaim leadership, but a deepening one-month deficit usually means rotation has moved on.
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 0.3 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 Cooling quadrant — still ahead over the longer window, but behind the market over the past month. 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.