Copper holds above $14,000 as weak dollar offsets rise in LME inventory

According to Business Recorder, copper slipped slightly on Thursday but stayed above the $14,000 per ton mark as rising LME stocks eased supply worries. The benchmark three-month contract was 0.04% lower at $14,043.5 a ton by 0300 GMT. Shanghai's most-traded contract edged up 0.15% to 107,140 yuan, or about $15,934.20 a ton.

LME copper inventories climbed by a further 12,425 tons on Wednesday, exchange data showed, easing concerns about outflows to US warehouses ahead of possible tariffs on refined copper. Total stocks reached 235,975 tons, up 11% in a week but still 40% below their level three months earlier. Meanwhile the dollar fell close to its lowest point in three months after the US Treasury Department announced steps to steady the bond market, helping copper recover from a two-week low.

Aluminium weakened after a report said an unfinished trade agreement could halve the US basic tariff on Canadian imports of the metal to 25%. LME aluminium fell 0.65% and SHFE aluminium dropped 0.7%. Zinc, nickel and tin were mixed across both exchanges, with moves between a 0.69% decline and a 1.46% gain.