The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is marching higher on Thursday.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining giant closed yesterday trading for $44.07. In early afternoon trade, shares are changing hands for $44.84 apiece, up 1.8%.
That sees the miner's stock up 4.9% since Monday's closing bell.
Here's what's piquing ASX 200 investor interest today.
Why are ASX 200 investors hitting the buy button?
The BHP share price looks to be getting support on several fronts.
First, there's the sizeable overnight lift in the iron ore price (BHP's top revenue earner) as well as the copper price (BHP's number two revenue earner).
Iron ore gained a sizeable 3.1% to $US109.00 per tonne. The industrial metal has been defying bearish forecasts for a retrace below US$100.
With China's economy in stall mode, the market looks to be expecting further stimulus measures from the Chinese government, which should help support the iron ore price.
And copper also enjoyed a big boost. The red metal gained 2.1% to trade for US$ 8,499.50 per tonne, according to data from Bloomberg.
It's also worth noting that the ASX 200 miner trades on several international exchanges atop its ASX listing.
In the United States yesterday (overnight Aussie time), the BHP share price gained 3.3% on the NYSE.
Aside from resilient metals prices, investor exuberance was stoked by a US inflation print that came in at the lowest level in two years.
Annual headline inflation in the world's top economy fell to 3% in June, down from 4% a month earlier.
Core annual inflation, which takes out volatile food and energy prices, also edged lower to 4.8%, down from 5.3% the previous month.
This has investors betting that we'll only see one more rate rise from the US Fed before the central bank sits tight.
BHP share price snapshot
With today's intraday lift factored in, the BHP share price is up 21% over the past 12 months.
