WASHINGTON: Copper neared a record high, with a renewed rally in US tech stocks helping to boost investor sentiment at a time of tightening supply in many metal markets.
Prices for the bellwether industrial metal rallied as much as 1.3% to US$11,928 a tonne, within US$25 of an all-time high and nearing the US$12,000 mark.
Prices have climbed by more than a third this year, bolstered by mine outages, a surge in US imports and a bullish outlook for usage linked to artificial intelligence.
Tin has rallied nearly 50% this year, and hit a fresh three-year high last Friday amid renewed gains in AI-focused stocks.
Aluminium also hit the highest price since 2022, with the looming shutdown of a smelter in Mozambique adding to worries about supply as plants in China face output cap.
Nickel advanced for a third day, extending its rebound from an eight-month low on the prospect of reduced supply. The metal rose as much as 1.6% last Friday, two days after Indonesia proposed cutting nickel ore production in 2026.
“Going into 2026, if the cut does take place, then our view is that nickel is likely to outperform the rest of the base metal complex,” Bernard Dahdah, an analyst at Natixis, said in an emailed statement.
“Most metals in the complex have already reached record highs, and as such the price increase momentum is likely to slow down, if not reverse in some cases.” — Bloomberg
