Copper rises

Copper rose on Wednesday as expectations for solid demand this quarter helped the metal claw back some lost ground after it fell 1 percent in the previous session, although caution over the Iran nuclear deal kept a lid on gains. Oil prices jumped back to 3-1/2 year highs after US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of an international nuclear pact with Iran, while the dollar hit another high for the year before retreating.
Copper pushed back up towards the centre of its March to April range, underpinned by expectations for seasonal strength in demand, analysts said, and a drop in stocks to their lowest in 3-1/2 months. "Copper is locked into a pretty tight range, with day-to-day volatility due to currency fluctuations, positioning and so on," Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar said.
"We haven't had the supply disruptions that everybody had pencilled in, and with the trade tensions and geopolitical risks that is shutting out the upside," he said. "But we're into the seasonally strong period for demand, so dips are being well supported." Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange closed up 1 percent at $6,810 a tonne, having fallen 1.2 percent on Tuesday.
Copper stocks in London Metal Exchange-registered warehouses fell 9,600 tonnes to 293,025 tonnes, their lowest since late January, exchange data showed on Wednesday. A break in copper prices above resistance at $6,833 could lead to a gain limited to $6,869, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.
Copper output in Chile, the world's top producer and exporter, rose 18.9 percent in the first quarter of 2018 from the same period a year earlier to 1.42 million tonnes. China's refined zinc production rose 2.1 percent in April from a month earlier to 377,000 tonnes as smelters returned from maintenance, research house Antaike said in a note. LME zinc ended the day 0.5 percent higher at $3,076 a tonne.
Aluminium stocks in LME warehouses fell 21,100 tonnes or 1.6 percent, exchange data showed on Wednesday, taking headline inventories to 1,276,450 tonnes. LME aluminium finished up 0.6 percent at $2,368 a tonne. LME tin closed up 0.9 percent at $21,110 a tonne, while nickel ended 0.3 percent higher at $13,925 a tonne and lead finished the day up 0.3 percent at $2,294.50 a tonne.