keywords :
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 CMCU3 rose 1.6% to $9,732 per metric ton by 0748 GMT, having hit $9,739 a ton earlier in the session, the highest since June 2022.
The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 closed up 2.8% at 78,780 yuan ($10,883.02) aton.
The dollar index =USD 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 enhanced by short-covering.
LME aluminium CMAL3 increased 0.9% to $2,610.50 a ton, nickel CMNI3 advanced 1.2% to $18,460, lead CMPB3 climbed 1.3% to $2,183.50, while zinc CMZN3 fell 0.6% to $2,824.
SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 increased 0.8% to 20,460 yuan a ton, nickel SNIcv1 jumped 2.5% to 138,270 yuan, zinc SZNcv1 climbed 1.7% to 22,840 yuan, and lead SPBcv1 advanced 0.6% to 17,070 yuan.
LME tin CMSN3 climbed as much as 3.6% to $33,945, its highest since June 2022. SHFE tin SSNcv1 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 on Wednesday, the biggest premium since July 2023, as inventories in LME-approved warehouses MSNSTX-TOTAL 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.