LONDON: Copper prices continued to recover on Monday as some exemptions from U.S. tariffs and hopes that top metals consumer China would unroll more stimulus measures improved the broad risk sentiment.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 1% to $9,246 a metric ton by 1013 GMT after hitting $9,271.5 for its highest since April 4.
Copper is up 14% since sliding to a multi-month low of $8,105 a ton a week ago, when tariff sparring between the U.S. and China, the world’s two largest economies, exacerbated fears over global economic growth.
In the latest twist, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration granted exclusions from tariffs on smartphones, computers and some other electronics imported largely from China.
The exemptions may be short-lived after Trump said on Sunday that he would be announcing the tariff rate on imported semiconductors this week.
However, the risk sentiment has improved for now, with the pause potentially signalling an opening for discussions between the U.S. and China, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
“Needless to say that all markets including industrial metals continue to move from one headline to the next, with volatility being the only winner for now,” he added.
Copper rises on dollar weakness
On the technical front, the LME copper contract is facing resistance from the 100-day moving average at $9,280.
Meanwhile, the spread between LME cash copper and the three-month contract was volatile ahead of this week’s LME contract settlement. It was last at zero, compared with a premium of $37 a ton at Friday’s close and a discount of $38 a week ago.
In China, official data showed that the country’s January-March imports of copper and copper products fell 5.2% as a persisting premium of Comex copper against London prices prompted a redirection of some of the shipments to the United States.
In other metals, LME aluminium fell 0.2% to $2,392 a ton, zinc and lead added 0.1% to $2,651 and $1,916 respectively while tin gained 1.8% to $31,760 and nickel jumped 2.7% to $15,470.
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