Base metals rise as dollar nurses losses ahead of U.S. inflation data

Article content

Base metals prices rose on Tuesday as the dollar weakened on expectation that U.S. inflation data might show some signs of cooling, making greenback-priced metals cheaper to holders of other currencies.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.3% to $7,976.50 a tonne, as of 0241 GMT, while the most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 1.2% to 63,030 yuan ($9,102.59) a tonne.

Article content

LME tin jumped 3.4% to $22,180 a tonne, zinc climbed 1.2% to $3,236 a tonne and aluminum increased 1% to $2,305 a tonne.

Article content

The dollar nursed losses ahead of U.S. inflation data that investors hope might show some signs of softening. Recent dollar gains have slowed on market expectations that peaking inflation will mean less aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

The premium of LME cash copper over the three-month contract ended at $124 a tonne on Monday, the highest since November 2021, indicating tightening supply of immediately available copper in the exchange warehouse system.

Meanwhile, the LME zinc cash-three month premium fell to $13.25 a tonne, its lowest since June 10, suggesting that nearby supply tightness has eased.

ShFE nickel jumped 5.3% to 190,670 yuan a tonne, tin advanced 2.8% to 183,640 yuan a tonne, zinc increased 1.3% to 24,760 yuan a tonne and lead was up 1.5% to 15,130 yuan a tonne.

For the top stories in metals and other news, click or

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0600 Germany HICP Final YY Aug

0600 UK Claimant Count Unem Change Aug

0600 UK ILO Unemployment Rate Jul

0600 UK HMRC Payrolls Change Aug

0900 Germany ZEW Economic Sentiment Sep

0900 Germany ZEW Current Conditions Sep

1230 US CPI MM, SA Aug

1230 US CPI Wage Earner Aug

($1 = 6.9244 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)