Zinc Miner Nexa Gains 4.1% as Buenaventura Jumps 7.6% | Zinc, Nov 4
Key Facts
- Nexa Resources rose 4.11% to US$11.90 on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, its third gain in a row, though it is still 28.8% below its 12-month high.
- Buenaventura jumped 7.62% to US$28.80 as gold rallied, helped by its gold mines alongside its zinc exposure.
- The main cause was a broad, risk-friendly day after the US midterms: the S&P 500 rose 1.58%, the dollar index fell 0.37% and the 10-year Treasury yield dropped 5 basis points.
- The longer trend is still down with Nexa 17.6% lower over 60 sessions and Buenaventura 17.2% lower.
- Oil fell hard as the oil fund USO dropped 8.07%, easing worries about costs for smelters and miners.
- Our archive adds a caution as Nexa has recovered 28 times in 63 comparable falls, a 44% record, so a rebound is not the usual outcome.
Today’s Focus
Two Latin American zinc proxies bounced sharply on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, but the bounce sits inside a fall that has lasted months. Nexa Resources, the Peru- and Brazil-based zinc producer, rose 4.11% to US$11.90, and Buenaventura, the Peruvian miner, jumped 7.62% to US$28.80.
The trigger was not zinc news. Traders bought almost everything risky after the US midterm elections, in which Democrats took control of Congress, with the S&P 500 up 1.58% and the VIX fear gauge down 20.26%.
A weaker dollar and lower borrowing costs also helped. Metals priced in dollars become cheaper for foreign buyers when the dollar slips, and gold, which is a large part of Buenaventura’s story, climbed strongly.
What matters today. A one-day relief rally has lifted two Latin American zinc proxies, but both remain far below their highs of the past year.
01 The session in one read
Investors who had been selling miners for weeks were suddenly buyers. Nexa Resources, a zinc miner and smelter operator in Peru and Brazil, rose 4.11% on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.
Buenaventura, Peru’s biggest listed precious-metals miner, rose 7.62%. Both are the shares we use as stand-ins for zinc, because they carry the metal’s fortunes in Latin America.
Zinc matters because roughly half of it is used to coat steel against rust, known as galvanising. That ties it to construction, cars and appliances, so its price reflects the health of the building trade.
The move looks like a market-wide risk rebound rather than a fresh verdict on zinc, and Buenaventura’s larger jump points to gold as the extra fuel. Both shares remain well below their highs, so this is a bounce within a weak stretch, not yet a new uptrend. The variable to watch is whether the dollar and Treasury yields keep falling.
02 The board
Nexa closed at US$11.90, its third rise in a row, yet it is still down 5.56% over 20 sessions. Buenaventura closed at US$28.80, only its first gain in a row, and it is 7.48% lower over 20 sessions.
The size of Buenaventura’s jump compared with Nexa’s shows a second force at work. The gold fund GLD rose 3.68% in the session, and gold mining shares usually move by more than gold itself.
| Asset | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nexa Resources | US$11.90 | +4.11% |
| Buenaventura | US$28.80 | +7.62% |
Source: RT close, 2026-11-04. Where a commodity has no spot feed, an exchange-traded tracker or leading producer is shown as a labelled proxy.
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Latin America — Cross-Market Board
| Instrument | Last | Change | YoY | Prev. | High | Low | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBOV | 167,563.47 | +1.23% | +19.56% | 165,528.92 | 178,526 | 175,157 | — |
| IPSA | 10,627.00 | +2.52% | — | 10,366.16 | 10,722 | 10,633 | — |
| IPC MEX | 71,385.90 | +1.71% | +12.74% | 70,184.33 | 70,008 | 69,383 | 49,372,306 |
| MERVAL | 2,848,945 | — | +12.65% | 2,859,051 | — | — | — |
| COLCAP | 2,506.42 | -0.84% | — | — | — | — | — |
| USD/BRL | 5.34 | -1.32% | -0.84% | 5.42 | 5.42 | 5.30 | — |
| EUR/BRL | 5.95 | +7.53% | -4.87% | 5.54 | 6.04 | 5.92 | — |
| USD/MXN | 18.69 | +0.62% | +1.45% | 18.57 | 18.69 | 18.54 | — |
| USD/CLP | 983.47 | -0.57% | +5.64% | 989.13 | 991.87 | 979.07 | — |
| USD/COP | 3,149 | +3.06% | -18.02% | 3,056 | 3,173 | 3,111 | — |
| USD/PEN | 3.45 | +0.17% | +3.85% | 3.44 | 3.45 | 3.44 | — |
| USD/ARS | 1,537 | -0.28% | +3.77% | 1,541 | 1,541 | 1,537 | — |
| USD/UYU | 40.21 | +3.57% | +2.29% | 38.83 | 40.21 | 40.08 | — |
| USD/PYG | 5,803 | +3.78% | -16.54% | 5,592 | 5,803 | 5,735 | — |
| USD/BOB | 11.97 | +4.93% | +77.92% | 11.41 | 11.97 | 11.82 | — |
| USD/DOP | 60.54 | +1.83% | -4.34% | 59.45 | 61.14 | 59.85 | — |
| USD/CRC | 451.24 | +2.13% | -7.80% | 441.83 | 451.40 | 450.04 | — |
| USD/GTQ | 7.64 | +3.23% | +2.18% | 7.40 | 7.64 | 7.64 | — |
03 Why it moved
First and heaviest, a broad rush into risk after the US midterms. The S&P 500 gained 1.58%, the VIX fell 20.26%, and gold and silver jumped as Democrats took Congress. Confidence: high that this lifted miners generally.
Second, cheaper money and a softer dollar. The dollar index slipped 0.37%, and the 10-year US Treasury yield, the benchmark cost of borrowing, fell 5 basis points to 4.90%. A basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point, and lower yields make metals, which pay no interest, more attractive. Confidence: medium to high.
Third, falling oil and easing Middle East tension. The oil fund USO dropped 8.07% as traders followed prospects of talks with Iran, which would cut energy costs for smelters. Confidence: medium.
The drivers agree with the move, so there is no puzzle. What we cannot see in our scan is zinc’s own price change, so we read this as a lift for the miners’ shares rather than proof of a zinc breakout.
There is also company news in the background. Nexa’s third-quarter results, released around 29 and 30 October, showed its best adjusted earnings of the year, helped by higher zinc prices, normal operations in Peru and a recovered Cajamarquilla smelter after a fire in May.
China’s October PMI surveys from S&P Global, sponsored by RatingDog, gave a manufacturing reading of 52.0, where anything above 50 means growth, and a services reading of 50.8, down from 51.6 in September, according to the RT economic calendar. Chinese demand is still growing, but the services side is cooling.
04 The trend behind it
Nexa is 28.8% below its 12-month high of 16.72, set on 6 May 2026, and 17.6% lower over 60 sessions. It remains 126.7% above its low of 5.25 from 7 November 2025, so the year has been a big rise followed by a long retreat.
Buenaventura sits 34.1% below its 12-month high of 43.67, set on 27 February 2026. It is 36.1% above its low of 21.16, recorded on 4 November 2025, exactly a year ago.
Our archive adds perspective. Since 2017, after 63 earlier falls of at least Nexa’s 5.6% in 20 sessions, the shares were higher 20 sessions later in 28 cases, or 44%, with a median change of minus 3.0% and a worst case of minus 37.8%.
Buenaventura did better. After 113 earlier falls as large as its 7.5% in 20 sessions, it was higher 20 sessions later in 62 cases, or 55%, with a median of plus 1.0%. History is not a forecast.
This looks like a continuation of the downtrend with a sharp bounce, not a new phase.
05 What it means for Latin America
Peru feels this most. Buenaventura and Nexa’s Peruvian mines are among the country’s best-known listed miners, and mining taxes and royalties feed the national budget.
Brazil is exposed through Nexa’s Aripuanã mine and its smelters. The company raised its 2026 investment budget partly because of a stronger Brazilian real, which shows the currency eating into costs.
Bolivia and Mexico are major zinc producers too, and both benefit when zinc prices and the dollar’s direction are friendly. Neither country’s output data is in our scan, so the link here is the price effect.
For an investor in Lima, São Paulo or Mexico City, the lesson is that these shares react to US politics and the dollar as much as to local mining news.
06 The names to watch
Nexa is a pure zinc play, with mines in Peru and Brazil and smelters that turn the metal into finished products. Its Cerro de Pasco project in Peru is due to reach a key construction milestone in December, and the company has said pumping should start in 2027.
Buenaventura mixes gold, silver and base metals, so it moves with precious metals more than Nexa does. That explains why it jumped nearly twice as much on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.
07 What would end it
The bounce ends if the dollar and Treasury yields turn back up. A fall back toward Nexa’s recent weakness would erase the three-day rise.
Levels to watch are round numbers and the year’s extremes. For Nexa, US$10 is the nearest psychological floor and 16.72 is the 12-month ceiling; for Buenaventura, US$25 and 43.67.
The dated event on the calendar is Nexa’s December milestone at Cerro de Pasco, followed by the next US inflation and jobs data, which drive dollar and yield moves. Honest answer: this rally may continue briefly, but it needs zinc itself to rise to turn the downtrend.
08 What to watch
- Dollar and yields: If the dollar index stays near 101.49 and the 10-year yield near 4.90%, miners keep their lift.
- Gold: Buenaventura follows gold closely, so a fade in the gold fund would hit it first.
- Nexa in December: Mechanical completion of phase one at Cerro de Pasco is the next company milestone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Nexa and Buenaventura rise?
A broad risk rally after the US midterms, a softer dollar, lower Treasury yields and a gold rebound lifted both on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.
Are these prices the zinc price?
No. They are shares of Latin American miners that act as stand-ins for zinc, not the price of the metal.
Is this the start of a recovery?
Not yet. Nexa remains 28.8% below its 12-month high, and Buenaventura 34.1% below its own.
Why does zinc matter?
It protects steel from rust, so demand follows construction, cars and appliances.
Market data: The Rio Times
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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