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Copper prices rise on optimism about US-China trade
Copper prices rose on Friday, and are on track to finish the week on a positive note, thanks to a truce in the Sino-American tariff war. However, concerns about the long-term demand of the metal have capped any further gains. Asian stocks are set for a strong, but tempered week as the euphoria surrounding the U.S. China trade talks has faded. Meanwhile, renewed bets on policy easing by the United States have sparked a rally among the beaten down bond markets. As of 0238 GMT the benchmark copper price on the London Metal Exchange was up by 0.1% to $9,585 per metric ton. The most traded copper contract on Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.1% to 78,430 Yuan ($10,889.43). Metals from Shanghai said that "Chinese traders were happy with the 90-day break, but the market was still uncertain as to what would happen after 90 days." She added that the fact that China exporters are rushing to ship cargoes is a telling sign. LME copper prices are up around 1.5% this week, while Shanghai copper prices have increased by about 1%. The initial optimism about the 90-day suspension of most retaliatory duties agreed between Beijing and Washington has faded. The market has also been focusing on potential new tariffs imposed by the U.S. on copper imports since February. Other London metals saw aluminium rise 0.1% per ton to $2492, zinc fell 0.1% at $2723 and lead dropped 0.4% to $1996.5. Tin rose by 0.1% to $33,000. Analysts expect the price to be between 78,000-79,000 Yuan per tonne in the near future, reflecting a mixed market sentiment. SHFE aluminium dropped by 0.3%, to 20,185 Yuan per ton. Zinc fell by 0.6%, to 22,595 Yuan. Lead also declined 0.5% to 16920 Yuan. Click or to see the latest news in metals, and other related stories.
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Iron ore prices fall on the back of falling demand in the near term, but still head for a weekly gain
The price of iron ore futures fell on Friday, despite a trade truce that was reached between the US and China. This is due to signs of a softer near-term market demand as well as growing concern over the outcome of the Sino-US tariff war. As of 0228 GMT on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange, the most traded September iron ore contract was trading 0.75% lower, at 729.5 Yuan ($101.3) per metric ton. This represents a 4.7% increase so far this week. As of 0220 GMT the benchmark June iron ore traded on the Singapore Exchange had fallen by 0.68% to $100.5 per ton. This represents a 3.7% gain this week. A survey by consultancy Mysteel revealed that the average daily hot metal production, which is a measure of iron ore consumption, fell 0.4% from the previous week to approximately 2.45 million tonnes as of May 15. This weighed on sentiment and prices. Analysts and traders expect hot metal production to remain stable in May and June, as mills are encouraged by profit margins to keep up their high operating rates. The easing of trade tensions is likely going spur another wave of first-run shipments. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence analysts forecast an average annual ore price of $100, despite the subdued outlook for demand amid possible China steel production cuts and renewed optimism about easing trade tensions. Coking coal and coke, which are used to make steel, also fell on the DCE. The declines were 2.88% and 1.49 %, respectively. The benchmarks for steel on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have also fallen. Rebar fell 0.51%, while hot-rolled coils dropped 0.55%. Wire rod slumped 0.38%, and stainless steel declined 0.42%. ($1 = 7,2033 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting and editing by Mrigank Dahniwala; Amy Lv, Lewis Jackson)
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Gold has its worst week for six months due to trade calm
Gold prices fell on Friday, and were set to experience their biggest weekly drop in six months as a stronger US dollar and diminishing trade war fears dampened its appeal. As of 0222 GMT, spot gold was down 0.5% at $3,223.06 per ounce. Bullion is down about 3% this week, and it's on track to have its worst performance weekly since November 2024. U.S. Gold Futures fell 0.1% to $3.224.90. Gold priced in greenbacks is now more expensive to overseas buyers due to the dollar's 0.3% gain for the past week. Ilya Spirak, global macro head at Tastylive, said that "gold prices were under heavy pressure this week due to the markets' cheering of a de-escalation of the U.S. China trade war." The U.S. announced earlier this week that it and China had agreed to temporarily reduce the high tariffs, which were imposed on April. Retail sales growth in the U.S. slowed down as well. A report revealed that consumer prices in April rose less than anticipated. Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr stated on Thursday that the U.S. is in a good position, with inflation headed to the central banks' 2% target. However, trade policies have clouded this outlook. The markets are pricing 57 basis point rate cuts for this year. It is expected that the easing will begin in September. In a low rate environment, gold, which is traditionally viewed as a hedge to economic and political uncertainty, thrives. Gold price drops continue to attract buyers, which shows the precious metal is still a preferred asset. Global growth and inflation forecasts are still murky, said KCM Trade's Chief Market Analyst Tim Waterer. Silver spot fell 0.6%, to $32.49 per ounce. Platinum dropped 0.3%, to $986.58. Palladium was down 1.1% at $957.42. (Reporting and editing by Sumana Jacob-Phillips and Sherry Mukherjee, Bengaluru)
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Indonesian military: 18 separatists were killed in Papua, according to the country's military
An official confirmed that Indonesian military killed 18 Papuan Separatists in an operation conducted in the easternmost region Papua on Thursday. Three civilians were also killed. In a statement, Kristomei Santuri, the military spokesperson, said that during Wednesday's raid, the military seized dozens munitions including an assault weapon, bows andarrows, and an unspecified home-made weapon. The Indonesian military suffered no casualties. Sebby Samboom, a spokesperson for the Papua Separatists, said that three of its members were dead. A prominent church group in Papua, citing reports from local churches, said that three civilians died during the shootout. Nearly 1,000 people were evacuated. Ronald Rischard is the head of the Papua branch. He told reporters that the attack happened while villagers were sleeping. Ronald Rischard urged the country's rights agency to conduct an independent investigation into the incident. He said that the cycle of violence has continued, and a child’s ear had been razed to ashes by a bullet. However, he did not know who had fired the shots. Since 1969, when the area was controversially handed over to Indonesian rule following Dutch rule by a vote overseen and supervised by the United Nations, rebels have waged a low-level independence campaign in the richly resourced Papua bordering Papua New Guinea. Rebels have held foreigners as hostages, including 26 wildlife researchers from 1996 and a New Zealander pilot who was freed last year after 19 months of imprisonment. The rebels claimed to have killed 17 people in the last month. They said that they were disguised gold miners. The statement stated that the Indonesian military had deployed personnel to the area of the operation on Wednesday in order to anticipate the movements of the remaining rebels. (Reporting and editing by Martin Petty, Ed Osmond and Ananda Teresia)
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Brazil's Marfrig completes the takeover of BRF by merging as MBRF
Brazilian beef processor Marfrig revealed on Thursday that it plans to complete the takeover of BRF, a poultry and pork processor. It also hinted at plans to list shares in the combined entity eventually in the United States. Marfrig has been pursuing a strategy of gaining scale in order to compete with Brazilian meatpacking company JBS. JBS is preparing to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. All three companies are now listed on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange. Marfrig, BRF and other parties disclosed that the proposed deal involved a share exchange whereby BRF holders would receive 0.8521 Marfrig shares for every BRF share. This move will also involve the creation of a new company called MBRF. It will control National Beef owned by Marfrig, a meat processing firm based in America that will be integrated into the corporate structure. In a joint announcement, the companies stated that they expect 805 million reais (142 million dollars) in annual synergies as a result of the tie-up. 400 to 500 millions reais are expected to be captured during the first year. The proposal will be voted on by shareholders on June 18. BRF executives told analysts that the move was intended to build on the strengths of both companies, giving them greater power to compete on a global scale with giant food producers. Fabio Mariano, CFO of MBRF, said that MBRF may move its fiscal domicile to New York and list shares there at some point. He said that the merging companies should first focus on extracting synergies from the new structure. Marfrig purchased almost a quarter BRF shares in May 2021. It became the company's largest shareholder at that time, but stated it would be a passive investor. Marfrig gradually increased its stake to 50.49%. In the past 12 months, these companies generated combined net sales of 26.75 billion reais (152 billion reais), with 38% from food products that were processed and had a higher price. Both companies' shares rose on Thursday in Sao Paulo, beating out peers from the sector including Minerva & JBS. BRF shares rose 7% at one stage during the session. Marfrig rose by 4.34%, to 20.66 Reais. $1 = 5.6817 Reais (Reporting and editing by Gabriel Araujo, Diane Craft).
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Oil prices to rise by 1% this week on U.S. China trade agreement
The oil prices rose on Friday after a steep drop the previous day. This is expected to lead to a weekly increase of more than 1 percent as the optimism surrounding the U.S. China trade relations outweighed the prospect of Iranian supplies returning to the market. Brent crude futures were up 17 cents or 0.26% to $64.70 per barrel at 0007 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude Futures rose 18 cents or 0.29% to $61.80. Prices fell more than 2% the previous session, after President Donald Trump claimed that the U.S. and Iran were "close" to a nuclear agreement. He also said that Tehran "sort of" accepted its terms. Sources familiar with the negotiations said that there are still some gaps to be filled. The oil prices spiked in the first part of the week, after the U.S., and China, two of the largest oil-consuming economies and consumers, agreed on a 90 day pause to their trade war, during which time both sides would lower their trade duties. Sino-U.S. trade tariffs were hefty, and sparked fears that global growth would be severely affected. The oil market is still subject to the dynamics of supply, which includes the possibility that Iranian supplies could return to the market after any agreement between Washington and Tehran. ANZ Bank said in a client note that "the easing geopolitical risk weighed on the sentiment already burdened with fears of rising supplies from fellow OPEC member" The International Energy Agency announced on Thursday that it expects the global supply to increase by 1.6 millions barrels per day in 2018, up 380,000 bpd compared to its previous forecast. Saudi Arabia and OPEC+ will be unwinding their output cuts.
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Third Point reveals stakes in U.S. Steel and Kenvue
Third Point, the hedge fund of billionaire Daniel Loeb, detailed its stakes in U.S. Steel on Thursday. Shareholders hope that someone will buy these companies soon. U.S. Steel is waiting for Nippon Steel to acquire it, Japan's biggest steel producer. The deal has been put on hold after the Biden administration refused and Trump ordered in April a new review of national security. The so-called 13F document, released on Thursday, showed that Third Point held 12,2 million shares in U.S. Steel at the end of the quarter. In a letter, Loeb informed investors that he owned a "meaningful stake in U.S. Steel" and was confident that the merger of the company with its Japanese rival Nippon Steel could be achieved. He hasn't publicly acknowledged his firm's stake in Kenvue. The maker of Band-Aids, Tylenol and other products, is under pressure from other investors to divest or sell the company. Third Point held 8.9 million Kenvue shares on March 31, 2025, according to the filing. The filings are not only backward looking, but also closely monitored for trends in investment. According to its 13F filing, Toms Capital Investment Management has also taken positions in U.S. Steel, and Kenvue, during the first three months. According to the filings, Toms Capital Investment Management owned 4.9 millions shares of U.S. Steel common stock at the end the first quarter. It also held 14.4 million Kenvue shares. Sources familiar with Toms Capital's engagement claim that the firm has encouraged Kenvue, through its financial advisers, to explore strategic options, such as the sale of the company in whole or parts. (Reporting and editing by Svea Herbst Bayliss)
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Peru arrests suspect in Colombia miner murders
The Peruvian interior ministry announced on Thursday the arrest in Colombia of a suspect suspected of killing 13 miners from the district of Pataz in the north. In a posting on X, the ministry stated that the arrest and detention of Miguel Rodriguez (alias "Cuchillo", "Knife" or "Knife") was the result of extensive intelligence work as well as coordination between Interpol and the Peruvian National Police. According to sources in the industry and police, illegal miners allied with criminal organizations kidnapped workers from a gold mining facility in northern Peru and killed them. This was part of a wave violence that raged over the control of the region, forcing the government to set up a military base there. Kevin Diaz's lawyer told the local radio station RPP his client spent "a few" days in Venezuela before returning to Colombia where he was detained. In an interview with local television, Rodriguez denied any involvement in the murders. According to the Peruvian government, illegal mining, mostly for gold, is now generating more revenue than drug trafficking. It generates between $3 and $4 billion per year. (Reporting and writing by Marco Aquino, Natalia Siniawski, Rafael Escalera Montoto and Brendan O'Boyle; editing by Brendan O'Boyle).
Gold reaches record highs on US tariffs, while Asia stocks fall
Asian stocks dropped on Friday, with South Korea and Japan seeing heavy selling. Meanwhile, gold reached a new record high after the latest tariff salvo by U.S. president Donald Trump raised investor fears of a full-blown trade war.
Trump has moved forward with a 25% auto import tariff that will kick in next Monday. This move has drawn fierce criticism from politicians, industry executives and car manufacturers around the world.
Trump's escalation of the global war on trade that he started upon regaining power has shocked the markets. Shares of automakers around the world have been hit especially hard.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei Index fell by more than 2% due to a sharp decline in Toyota and Honda. South Korea's benchmark stock index hit a new low in two weeks and fell lastly by 1.3%. Both countries' economies are based on the auto industry.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.6% higher. This is a result of the threat to auto tariffs being largely ignored. Trump said that he was willing to lower tariffs against China in order to reach a deal with ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok to sell the app.
Fred Neumann is the chief Asia economist for HSBC. He said that "U.S. auto import tariffs are not a big surprise" as they have been discussed for some time.
To some extent, producers are able to shift their supply chains and production sites in order to minimize these effects. They may also pass on some of the cost increases to U.S. customers, since tariffs are a problem for nearly all producers.
Volvo Cars and Mercedes-Benz, as well as Volkswagen's Audi, Hyundai, and Volvo Cars have all already announced that they will be moving parts of their production. Ferrari, which produces all its cars in Italy said that it would increase prices by up to 10% for some models.
Now, the focus is on the reciprocal tariffs that will be announced by the U.S. on April 2. Trump said the measures might not be like-for-like levies, as he had pledged to impose.
"Not surprisingly, the tariff talk is resulting in another round of risk-off ... as traders try to ascertain the implications, but generally conclude that tariffs will be both growth-restraining and inflation-producing," said Thierry Wizman, global FX & rates strategist at Macquarie.
The dollar is headed for a drop in the next quarter as concerns about tariffs impacting the U.S. economy weigh on the markets. The euro was stable at $1.07942, and on track for a 4% increase in the period January-March.
Early trading saw the yen slightly stronger, at 150.76 dollars per dollar. This was on track for a gain of nearly 4% against the greenback during the first quarter. Traders bet that the Bank of Japan would raise interest rates once again.
The data released on Friday revealed that core consumer inflation in Tokyo increased in March and remained above the target set by the central bank due to steady increases in food prices. This kept the market's expectations for a rate hike in the near future alive.
DBS's strategists predict a near-term consolidation of the yen. They believe that it is trapped between trade risks, and rising inflation.
Gold prices reached a record high in commodities on Friday, as the threat from trade wars prompted a rush to the metal of safety. Gold spot was up last by 0.58% to $3,073.31 an ounce.
Gold has risen by more than 17% during the first three months of this year. It is on track to have its best quarter since 1986.
Oil prices were stable as traders assessed the tightening crude supply and new U.S. Tariffs, along with their effect on global economy.
Brent crude futures fell 0.07% to $73.98 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures fell 0.07% to $69.87. (Reporting and editing by Edmund Klamann; Ankur Banerjee)
(source: Reuters)