keywords :
Copper prices, often viewed as a gauge of global economic health, fell on Tuesday as tensions at the Ukrainian border prompted investors to scale back purchases of riskier assets.
Three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.4% at $9,880 a tonne, as of 0650 GMT, while the most-traded March copper contract SCFcv1 on the Shanghai Futures Exchange eased 0.3% to 71,010 yuan ($11,179.86) a tonne.
“Current geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine have been weighing on prices along with expectations of interest rate increases by the Fed and other central banks due to persistently higher inflation,” CRU analyst Craig Lang said.
With buying in China expected to start picking up in the next few weeks, visible copper stocks are likely to remain at multi-year lows in the near term, Lang added.
Asian shares fell on the day as investors contemplated the implications of a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the wake of which the Group of Seven large economies (G7) could impose economic and financial sanctions on Russia. MKTS/GLOB
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME aluminium CMAL3 was steady at $3,213 a tonne, nickel CMNI3 was flat at $23,170, lead CMPB3 was up 0.1% at $2,289, zinc CMZN3 rose 0.1% to $3,577.5 and tin CMSN3 gained 1.2% to $43,800.
* ShFE aluminium SAFcv1 rose 0.6% to 22,665 yuan a tonne, nickel SNIcv1 fell 0.7% to 172,580 yuan, zinc SZNcv1 shed 1.9% to 25,060 yuan, lead SPBcv1 was flat at 15,365 yuan and tin SSNcv1 was 0.3% higher at 333,960 yuan.
* The premium of LME cash aluminium over the three-month contract MAL0-3 rose to $51.30 a tonne, highest since July 2018, indicating tightening nearby supplies.
* A Peruvian community on Monday said it would not block the key mining road used by MMG’s 1208.HK Las Bambas copper mine, according to meeting minutes seen by Reuters, which should allow the firm to resume normal operations.
* St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard reiterated calls for a faster pace of Fed interest rate hikes, saying that four strong inflation reports in a row warranted more aggressive action and that the central bank needed to “ratify” market expectations about its upcoming moves.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L