Metals Daily

This Morning Copper is trading at $13,097 as of 06:58 GMT Tuesday, up 1.8% from Monday's official LME close of $12,868.50, as Chinese traders return from the nine-day Lunar New Year break. Tin is the standout at $49,160 — up 3.0% from $47,718. Nickel gained 2.4% to $17,705, zinc up 1.4% to $3,401, aluminium firmer at $3,117.50 (+0.9%), and lead edges 0.6% higher to $1,962.50. The broad-based strength reflects returning Shanghai liquidity and a market digesting the post-tariff-ruling landscape. Macro & Geopolitics Wall Street fell sharply Monday — S&P 500 down 1.0%, Nasdaq off 1.1% — as tariff uncertainty and AI fears hit shares. Trump warned countries against backing away from trade deals after the Supreme Court struck down his emergency tariffs, threatening higher duties under different trade laws. The State Department is pulling non-essential personnel from the U.S. embassy in Lebanon amid growing concerns about military conflict with Iran. Fed Governor Waller said he was open to holding rates at the March meeting if February jobs data shows a firmer labour market. Fed funds futures price a 95.5% probability of rates on hold at the March 18 meeting. Base Metals Shanghai reopened with copper up 1.4% to 102,190 yuan/tonne. Goldman Sachs predicts a net 5-percentage-point reduction in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods from the tariff reset. LME copper stocks rose to 241,825 tons Monday — the highest since March 2025, up 70% this year. Section 232 tariffs on copper and aluminium remain in place despite the Supreme Court ruling. Indonesia is considering revoking the environmental permit of PT QMB New Energy Materials after a landslide at its nickel processing hub. Precious Metals Gold fell 1.2% to $5,167.28/oz on Tuesday profit-taking after rising 2%+ in the prior session. U.S. gold futures settled 2.8% higher at $5,225.60 Monday. Silver dropped over 3% to $85.21/oz, platinum lost 0.5% to $2,142.35, while palladium gained 0.4% to $1,750.98. Analysts noted the pullback was orderly with underlying geopolitical support intact. Steel Brazil's Gerdau reported a 0.5% rise in Q4 adjusted net profit to 670 million reais ($129.59M), as booming North American operations (gross profit +172% YoY) offset a Brazilian slump (gross profit -87.2%). Gerdau approved a new share buyback program. Nippon Steel is reportedly raising $8.3 billion including $3.2 billion in convertible bonds. Rare Earth Metals China prohibited dual-use exports to 20 Japanese entities supplying Japan's military, targeting units of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and others, citing curbs on Japan's "remilitarisation." Another 20 entities including Subaru and Mitsubishi Materials were added to a watch list. Beijing said the measures won't affect normal trade. Market reaction in Tokyo was mixed. Forex The dollar was 0.4% stronger at 155.21 yen. The yuan was steady at 6.8912 offshore despite Beijing setting its strongest daily fixing in nearly three years. Euro unchanged at $1.178. Bitcoin fell 1.6% to $63,509.61; ether down 1.3% at $1,838.96. Watch Today Trump's State of the Union address after market close. U.S. consumer confidence data at 1500 GMT. Heavy Fed speaker slate: Goolsbee, Bostic, Collins, Barkin, Cook, and Waller. U.S. Treasury auctions $69 billion in two-year notes.