Copper gains on Mideast de-escalation, oil price drop
COPX•Other base metals mostly mixed
Among other LME metals, aluminium CMAL3 dipped 0.11%, zinc CMZN3 added 0.31%, lead CMPB3 dipped 0.16%, nickel CMNI3 lost 0.63% and tin CMSN3 gained 0.78%.
Elsewhere on SHFE, aluminium SAFcv1 dipped 0.15%, zinc SZNcv1 added 0.32%, lead SPBcv1 lost 1.17%, nickel SNIcv1 lost 0.39% and tin SSNcv1 rose 1.76%.
Copper firms as Mideast tensions ease
Copper prices firmed up on Monday, buoyed by a nascent halt in fighting between the U.S. and Iran and oil market relief.
Benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange gained 0.26% at $13,681 a metric ton by 0300 GMT. The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 was up 0.27% at 105,010 yuan ($15,515.43) a ton.
The U.S. said it was pausing its airstrikes on Iran after 13 consecutive nights of attacks and Tehran said it would halt its retaliatory attacks.
Inventories stay tight across exchanges
Copper has been supported by waning stocks outside the U.S. The metal has been shipped into the country at scale ahead of potential tariffs on refined copper.
In top consumer China, copper in SHFE-monitored warehouses CU-STX-SGH fell 12.9% last week, to their lowest level since February 2024, at 69,610 tons. Overall LME copper stocks MCUSTX-TOTAL are at their lowest since March.
Oil, rates and the dollar remain key drivers
The tentative truce gave some relief to oil prices. Brent crude LCOcv1 fell more than 4% on Monday. It had topped $100 a barrel for the first time since May last week.
