London copper firmed on Tuesday, holding near the more-than-one-week high hit in the previous session, aided by recent US tariff exemptions and optimism that top consumer China will launch additional stimulus measures to bolster economic growth.
The benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 0.1% at $9,192.5 a metric ton, as of 0252 GMT.
In the previous session, the contract hit its highest level since April 4.
The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rose 0.3% to 76,050 yuan ($10,402.42) per ton.
US excluded smartphones and other electronics from its tariffs on China over the weekend, and after US President Donald Trump added new wrinkles to his vacillating trade policy on Monday by suggesting he might grant exemptions on auto-related levies already in place.
However, the White House announced investigations into whether imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors threaten national security, potentially leading to tariffs on these products. Copper gained after Trump handed out exemptions to his reciprocal tariffs.
The pause on import fees on consumer electronics provided a temporary respite for markets after Trump’s trade policies sowed deep uncertainty, said Daniel Hynes, a senior commodity strategist at ANZ Bank.
Copper rallies to one-month peak on signs of improving demand
Meanwhile, China’s imports of unwrought copper and copper products in March declined 1.4% to 467,000 tons from a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday.
Market participants are expecting more stimulus measures from Chinese authorities to bolster consumption and cushion the economic impact of an escalating trade war with the United States.
Goldman Sachs on Monday reduced its forecast for aluminium prices this year after its economists downgraded global growth forecasts, including for the US and China.
SHFE aluminium eased 0.6% to 19,600 yuan a ton, zinc lost 0.4% to 22,385 yuan, lead retreated 0.8% to 16,780 yuan, nickel was up 0.8% at 123,960 yuan, tin fell 0.2% to 259,170 yuan.
LME aluminium gained 0.3% to $2,381.5 a ton, lead fell 0.4% to $1,909.5, tin was up 0.6% at $31,450, zinc was steady at $2,635 and nickel rose 0.4% to $15,365 a ton.
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