Aluminum touches seven-week high on waning stocks

Aluminium prices rose for a seventh session to touch their highest level in seven weeks on Tuesday, as fears of tight inventory and a continued supply deficit boosted the light metal.

Benchmark three-month aluminium CMAL3 on the London Metal Exchange was up 1.01% at $3,351 a metric ton by 0700 GMT. That marked the metal's highest price since June 23.

The most-traded aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SAFcv1 rose 0.89% to 24,250 yuan ($3,595.15) a ton, its highest since June 15.

For copper, a rising dollar =USD dampened support from supply concerns. A more expensive dollar makes greenback-denominated commodities more expensive for those using other currencies.

Copper prices on the LME CMCU3 edged down 0.16%, while the price on the SHFE SCFcv1 gained 0.31%. The cash-to-three-month spread on the LME CMCU0-3 was in sharp backwardation at $145.5 a ton, signalling tight physical availability.

LME stocks of the red metal MCUSTX-TOTAL have fallen sharply as traders consider a potential U.S. tariff on imports of refined copper.

The market is closely watching macroeconomic data for signals on inflation, and what it might mean for interest rates. "Higher rates tend to hit industrial metals by weighing on economic growth," ANZ senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes said in a note.

Among LME metals, zinc CMZN3 dipped 0.08%, lead CMPB3 was steady, nickel CMNI3 was steady and tin CMSN3 lost 0.53%.

Among SHFE metals, zinc SZNcv1 added 0.41%, lead SPBcv1 gained 1.02%, nickel SNIcv1 lost 0.38% and tin SSNcv1 lost 1.04%.