London copper hits near two-week high, aluminium steadies near four-year peak

London copper prices rose to a near two-week high on Wednesday, as lower oil prices eased fears of inflation and slowing economic growth, while aluminium steadied near its highest level in more than four years on supply concerns. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.3% at $13,660.50 a metric ton by 0701 GMT, after hitting its highest since May 15 earlier in the session. The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 0.4% at 104,680 yuan ($15,424.74) a ton. Brent crude oil prices fell and were trading near their lowest in more than a month this week, easing some concerns over inflation and a global slowdown, supporting demand for copper, which is widely considered a bellwether for the health of the global economy. Hopes of an AI boom that is expected to require large amounts of copper for data centres are also supporting sentiment for the base metal. "The key tension playing out in the markets now is whether this AI buildout narrative can continue to diverge from the inflation fears triggered by the U.S.-Iran war and its dramatic consequences," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive. Iran said on Tuesday the U.S. had violated a ceasefire by striking targets near the contested Strait of Hormuz, potentially complicating efforts to bring the war to a close. Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.1% to $3,677 a metric ton. Prices rose to their highest since March 24, 2022 in the previous session. Aluminium was supported by rising prices for the feedstock alumina and a tightened market due to reduced supply from Gulf producers. The September alumina futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose over 1% to their highest since April 28 earlier in the session. Reduced aluminium supply from Gulf producers due to the conflict has also kept the premium of the LME aluminium cash contract against the benchmark at $73 a ton as of Tuesday. Elsewhere on the LME, zinc held steady, lead was up 0.1%, nickel fell 0.2% and tin lost 0.6%. Nickel had hit its highest level since May 14 earlier in the session, while lead hovered near a four-month high. Among other SHFE metals, aluminium ticked 0.3% higher, zinc was down 1.1%, lead rose 0.1%, nickel gained 0.8% and tin lost 0.8%.