Copper rose to the highest level in more than a month and other industrial metals were mainly up on optimism the US and Iran will restart peace talks.
President Donald Trump said Tehran had reached out to his administration on potential peace talks, even as the US began a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has left the door open for further discussions, yet investors remain wary of renewed volatility due to the risk of escalation.
Industrial metals have been whipsawed since the Middle East war erupted at the end of February. They were initially hit by fears of soaring energy costs and the impact on economic growth before partially recovering on signs the conflict may be nearing an end. Aluminum jumped to a four-year high this week on the further disruption to supplies due to the US blockade. The Middle East accounts for about 9% of global production of the metal.
“Investors are pricing in the easing of macro crisis,” said Jia Zheng, trading manager at Suzhou Chuangyuan Harmony-Win Capital Management Co. “It is likely to be a prolonged tug-of-war, similar to the Russia-Ukraine war, where the impact on the markets will gradually weaken.”
Copper rose 0.4% to $13,107.50 a ton on the London Metal Exchange as of 10:18 a.m. in Shanghai, after touching $13,162 earlier, the highest since March 10. Aluminum was up 0.3% at $3,617.50 a ton. Bloomberg
