London copper hit its highest in 22 months on Thursday, supported by a softer dollar as traders braced for a longer-than-expected monetary tightening in the United States.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.2% to $9,692.50 per metric ton by 0748 GMT, having hit $9,726 a ton earlier in the session, the highest since June 2022.
The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up 2.8% at 78,780 yuan ($10,882.42) a ton. The dollar index was down, inching away from a five-and-a-half-month high hit on Tuesday.
Comments by Federal Reserve officials earlier this week cemented expectation of monetary settings remaining restrictive for a while longer.
A softer dollar makes greenback-priced metals cheaper to holders of other currencies. A trader said the price rallies across base metals were also exacerbated by short-covering.
LME aluminium increased 1% to $2,613 a ton, nickel advanced 1.4% to $18,485, lead climbed 1.5% to $2,188.50, and zinc rose 0.3% to $2,846.50.
SHFE aluminium increased 0.8% to 20,460 yuan a ton, nickel jumped 2.5% to 138,270 yuan, zinc climbed 1.7% to 22,840 yuan, and lead advanced 0.6% to 17,070 yuan.
LME tin climbed 3.6% to $33,945, its highest since June 2022.
Copper soars to 7-month high on Chinese plans to cut output
SHFE tin closed up 3.9% at 263,220 yuan, having hit 263,350 yuan earlier in the session, the highest since May 2022.
LME cash tin contract was traded at a $350-a-ton premium to the three-month contract, the biggest premium since July 2023, as inventories in LME-approved warehouses dropped to 4,045 tons, the lowest since July last year.
Meanwhile, falling LME aluminium stocks saw the cash-to-three-month discount at $1.23 a ton on Wednesday, tightening from a discount of $45.94 last Friday.
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