Metals recovered after sliding earlier on Friday, lifted by upbeat US wage data that dented the dollar and soothed inflation worries, although gains were capped by ongoing concerns that new US tariffs would stoke a trade war. The dollar fell versus a currency basket and equities rose after data showed strong job additions in February but muted wage growth, indicating a gradual rise in inflation and helping temper expectations of faster interest rate increases.
However, concerns remained about US President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 25 percent import tariff on steel and 10 percent on aluminium, with initial exemptions for Canada and Mexico. The move takes effect within 15 days. China said it "resolutely opposed" the tariffs and that they would "seriously impact the normal order of international trade", while the EU said it would go to the World Trade Organization to impose its own measures if hit by the tariffs.
"The impact of tariffs on metals markets is small, (as is) the impact of the tariffs in terms of US or global GDP. But if the tariffs spark an acceleration in trade restrictions and shave 1 or 2 percent off global GDP, that's when they become very problematic," said Bernstein analyst Paul Gait. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she feared a "tit-for-tat" escalation of trade retaliation that would hurt business confidence and investment.
Benchmark LME copper contracts closed up 1.9 percent at $6,962 a tonne, having touched a one-month low. Aluminium ended up 0.7 percent at $2,120 after hitting a 2-1/2 month low. Zinc, used to galvanise steel, ended up 1.5 percent at $3,277 after hitting a 2-1/2 month low.
The most traded steel rebar contract in Shanghai slumped by 3.7 percent to a 3-1/2 month closing low. Stainless steel raw material nickel ended up 4.5 percent at $13,860, its strongest one day gain since mid-February, after LME data showed a 13 percent slide in on-warrant stocks to 201,240 tonnes.
Deliverable aluminium stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses rose by 4,517 tonnes to a record 846,913 tonnes. Global shares were set to end the week in the black following the US jobs report and a potential breakthrough in nuclear tensions over the Korean peninsula. Lead ended up 1.7 percent at $2,376, having hit a 5-1/2 month low, while tin ended down 0.8 percent at $21,375.