Copper prices rebounded as stabilising global equity markets and signs of slower inventory growth offered relief to metals investors after a sell-off in the previous session.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.8 per cent to $14,190 a metric tonne, recovering from a 1.9 per cent decline on Thursday that pushed prices to a five-week low.
The recovery followed an easing of the rout in global technology stocks, which had been battered by concerns over the enormous funding requirements of artificial intelligence (AI) development. The stabilisation helped restore some appetite for industrial metals, although uncertainty over copper inventories and the outlook for demand continued to weigh on sentiment.
“Today we’ve got the Nasdaq futures bouncing after that sell-off yesterday, and that’s probably why we’re seeing some metals investors getting back in,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen, said.
Hansen cautioned, however, that investors remained nervous and copper could face further losses if prices fell below the September low of $13,925 a ton, a level that could intensify selling pressure.
The rebound came as fresh inventory data offered mixed signals about the balance between supply and demand in the global copper market.
LME copper stocks increased by 800 metric tonnes on Friday, a marked slowdown from the pace of accumulation recorded over the preceding week. Inventories had risen by a fifth over that period to 273,750 tonnes, raising concerns about the availability of excess metal and the strength of underlying demand.
In China, however, inventories held in warehouses registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell by 26.5 per cent on a weekly basis, according to data released on Friday. The decline offered a more encouraging signal from the world’s largest copper-consuming economy, where industrial activity and demand for the metal remain central to the market outlook.
Despite the improvement in Chinese inventories, a substantial accumulation of copper in the United States continued to cloud the price outlook.
The US has attracted large volumes of the metal amid speculation that the government could impose tariffs, prompting traders to move copper into the country ahead of potential trade restrictions.
The resulting stockpile has raised concerns that metal accumulated in the US could eventually be re-exported into international markets, increasing available supply elsewhere and putting renewed pressure on prices.
“That massive pile of copper in the US is clearly weighing on prices given the risk of re-exporting that copper into the rest of the market,” Hansen said.
Copper’s exposure to global manufacturing, construction, power infrastructure and technology investment makes it particularly sensitive to changes in economic expectations. A prolonged downturn in technology shares could weigh on broader risk appetite, while renewed concerns over excess inventories could leave prices vulnerable even if equity markets stabilise.
Elsewhere in the industrial metals market, nickel was the weakest performer on the LME, falling 1.8 per cent to $15,825 a tonne as traders awaited clearer signals from Chinese companies considering coordinated production cuts at their Indonesian operations.
The proposed reductions are being closely watched because Indonesia has become a major force in global nickel supply. Any meaningful curtailment could alter expectations for the metal’s market balance, although uncertainty over the scale and timing of potential cuts has limited the clarity of the outlook.
The International Nickel Study Group last week forecast a small global nickel surplus for the year, reversing an earlier projection of a deficit. The shift underscored concerns that supply could continue to outpace demand despite the prospect of production adjustments.
Among other LME metals, aluminium slipped 0.1 per cent to $3,007 a tonne, while zinc rose 1.1 per cent to $3,710. Lead was little changed at $1,898 a tonne, and tin advanced 1.3 per cent to $50,715.
