Base metal prices gained on Thursday, lifted by market optimism after a federal court halted President Donald Trump’s move to impose sweeping tariffs on imports from most of the United States’ trading partners.
The Court of International Trade blocked most of Trump’s tariffs in a broad ruling on Wednesday that found the president had overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports.
The Trump administration minutes later filed a notice of appeal and questioned the authority of the court.
ING commodities analyst Ewa Manthey said base metals gained because the court ruling boosted risk appetite, though markets were likely to remain volatile as the administration fights the decision.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.4% to $9,603.5 per metric ton, by 1000 GMT.
LME copper has rebounded nearly 19% since touching a 17-month low of $8,105 in April after Trump imposed his so-called reciprocal tariffs.
Among other metals, LME aluminium gained 0.4% to $2,477.5 a ton, zinc rose 1% to $2,711.5, lead was flat at $1,982 and nickel gained 2.3% to $15,340. Tin was up 0.1% to $31,650.
Gains were capped by a firmer U.S. dollar, which rose against major currencies, making dollar-priced metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Discussing the outlook for copper, Manthey noted that downside risks include prolonged trade negotiations and reduced policy stimulus from China. On the upside, prices could benefit from possible cuts in refined copper production amid ongoing tightness in concentrates, he said.
Meanwhile, Chile’s state copper commission Cochilco raised its average copper price forecast for this year and next, citing an improved global outlook following a pause in the tariff war between the United States and China.
Market attention also remained fixed on Washington’s ongoing investigation into potential copper import tariffs, which has kept the COMEX copper premium over the LME benchmark elevated and spurred a surge of metal inflows into COMEX-owned warehouses .
U.S. Comex copper futures rose 0.9% to $4.75 a lb., bringing the premium of Comex over LME to $858 a ton.
(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Joe Bavier)