BEIJING: Prices of copper and most other industrial metals rose on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on Tuesday after the United States temporarily eased some trade restrictions on Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.
Last week, Washington added Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and 68 entities to an export blacklist that makes it nearly impossible for the Chinese company to purchase goods made in the United States, escalating Sino-U.S. trade tensions and weighing on metal prices.
"The metals have all picked up off their lows for now," tracking a rally in equities markets, Malcolm Freeman, director of Kingdom Futures, wrote in a note.
"Metal is continually being withdrawn from the LME warehouse system and at some point the pressure could trigger a huge turnaround in most of the metals," Freeman added.
FUNDAMENTALS
* COPPER: Three-month LME copper rose as much as 0.6% and was up 0.2% at $6,042.50 per tonne as of 0721 GMT, after closing down 0.4% in the previous session. The most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged lower 0.1% to close at 47,700 yuan ($6,904.04) a tonne.
* COPPER: The global world refined copper market showed a surplus of 74,000 tonnes in February, compared with a 33,000 tonnes deficit in January, the International Copper Study Group said.
* ALUMINIUM: Norwegian metals maker Norsk Hydro has been given the go-ahead by a Brazilian federal court to resume full output from the company's Alunorte alumina refinery. Aluminium closed down 0.3% in Shanghai and was flat in London.
* WAREHOUSING: The LME has dismissed a complaint from miner and commodity trader Glencore over its inability to take fast delivery of aluminium from warehouses owned by ISTIM UK in Port Klang, Malaysia, two sources familiar with the matter said.
* OTHER METALS: Nickel, used to make stainless steel, rose as much as 1.4% in London to $12,140 per tonne as China's ferrous complex jumped, while Shanghai zinc fell 0.8%.
* COLUMN: Confusing signals cloud London nickel market: Andy Home
* ZINC SPREADS: The premium of LME cash zinc over the three-month contract <CMZN0-3> stood at $148.25 a tonne on Monday, not far off a 22-year high of $151 per tonne last week.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click or
MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares won some respite, although fears of a further escalation in tensions kept investors on edge.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.