Copper climbs as dollar hits multi-year lows; aluminium surges on weak stock

Copper climbed on Wednesday after the US dollar slid to its weakest in nearly four years, while aluminium also surged. The most active copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rose 0.72% to 103,510 yuan ($14,902.96) a metric ton as of 0330 GMT.

The benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange, meanwhile, jumped 1.69% to $13,226.50 a ton.

Both contracts hovered below record levels set earlier this month.

The dollar index on Tuesday hit its lowest since February 2022 after US President Donald Trump replied that the value of the greenback was “great”, when a reporter asked him if he thought it had fallen too much lately.

A weaker dollar supports commodities traded with the greenback, making it cheaper for investors using other currencies.

Meanwhile, supply constraints continued to underpin copper’s strength.

Elsewhere, aluminium is having a strong run, as the most traded contract in Shanghai surged 4.54% to 25,345 yuan a ton, after rising as much as 5.09% earlier, leading the gains among SHFE base metals.

The benchmark three-month aluminium also led in London, rising 2.21% to $3,278 a ton.

Goldman Sachs on Tuesday lifted its first-half outlook for the light metal to $3,150 a ton from $2,575, attributing the hike to low global inventories, power availability worries for new smelters in Indonesia and firm global demand growth.

Among other SHFE base metals, zinc rose 2.08%, lead nudged 0.06% higher, tin surged 2.05%, and nickel declined 1.30%.

Elsewhere on the LME, zinc rose 1.98%, lead added 0.57%, nickel gained 0.64% and tin climbed 0.87%.