Copper surrenders gains as AI selloff offsets macro optimism
XLB•London copper fell 0.04% to $14,005.50 a metric ton as worsening sentiment around AI offset macroeconomic optimism. In Shanghai, copper rose 0.38% to 107,900 yuan a ton.
1. Copper reverses gains
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.04% at $14,005.50 a metric ton by 0700 GMT. The most-traded Shanghai Futures Exchange contract edged 0.38% higher to 107,900 yuan a ton.
2. AI concerns weigh
Fears that the Democrats’ sweeping U.S. midterm victory could restrain AI infrastructure investment weighed on copper, which has benefited from expectations of AI-related demand growth. South Korea’s technology-heavy KOSPI fell more than 5% and neared a seven-month low, while Taiwan’s benchmark and Japan’s Nikkei also declined. In China, the Yangshan premium, a gauge of appetite for imported copper, returned to $205 a ton on Wednesday, its highest in more than a decade.
3. Other metals gain
Nickel rose 2.95% on the LME and 5.27% on the SHFE, its biggest daily increase since January. LME aluminium, zinc, lead and tin also gained, as did their SHFE counterparts.
