NEW DELHI: Copper prices in London hit a more than two-week high on Tuesday, tracking a sharp fall in the dollar as President Donald Trump’s ramped-up criticism of the Federal Reserve chairman shook investor confidence in the US economy.
The benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 1.2% at $9,302.5 per metric ton, as of 0350 GMT.
It briefly hit $9,319.5 per metric ton, the highest since April 4.
The LME resumed after a break on Friday and Monday for Easter. The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rose 0.6% to 76,920 yuan ($10,525) per metric ton.
The US currency sagged close to the decade-low reached the previous day against the Swiss franc, and hovered near a 3-1/2-year trough versus the euro.
A weaker dollar makes commodities priced in the US currency cheaper for buyers using other currencies.
Copper rallies to one-month peak on signs of improving demand
Trump ramped up his criticism of Fed chief Jerome Powell on Monday in a Truth Social post, calling him a “major loser” and demanding that he lower interest rates “NOW” or risk an economic slowdown.
“The crisis of confidence in US markets is deepening as Trump’s policies shake up, possibly break, the global economic order,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.
Among other metals, LME aluminium added 0.89% to $2,386.5 a ton, lead rose 0.75% to $1,936.5, tin was up 1.4% at $31,080, zinc was up 0.8% to $2,598, and nickel added 0.5% at $15,695 a ton.
SHFE aluminium eased 0.4% to 19,695 yuan a ton, zinc was down 0.4% to 22,130 yuan, lead eased 0.3% to 16,890 yuan, while nickel was up 0.3% at 125,850 yuan and tin fell 0.78% to 257,300 yuan.