The red metal advanced 7.2% in December, capping the biggest annual gain in eight years, but it has started to retreat in January. So far and at the time of this writing, prices are down 2.3% in 2018. Some analysts see the rally resuming. According to a recent article by Mark Burton with Bloomberg, HSBC Holdings Plc has raised its copper price forecast, responding to a recent slump in the U.S. dollar and rebounding factory-output growth that is lending support across commodity markets in recent weeks.