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Copper prices fall, heading for a weekly drop as tensions in the Middle East weigh on demand
The price of copper fell on Friday as equity markets declined. Rising tensions in the Middle East war fueled inflation fears and cast a dark shadow over the outlook for industrial metals. Benchmark 'three-month copper' on the London?Metal Exchange fell 1.3% to $13,419.50 per metric ton at 0930 GMT after rising 0.1% on Friday. The metal, which is widely used in construction, manufacturing and power generation, was expected to finish the week at a loss of 0.5%. Oil prices have risen 12.7% this week due to the escalation of fighting between the U.S. and Iran. Fuel costs are also increasing for metal producers. U.S. Stock Market Futures also slid due to renewed attacks in Gulf and a drop in chip stocks. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump's claims that China "meddled" in U.S. Elections increased trade tensions between two of the world's largest economies. COMEX copper fell by a more pronounced 1.9%, to $6.22 a pound. The White House has yet to announce its proposed tariff on imported refined copper. The US-Iran war has had a relatively mild impact on supply, but we still see copper prices falling in the months to come, according to BMI, an Fitch Solutions unit. Tight inventories kept prices at a minimum. LME copper stock The number of cancelled warrants on the market has dropped to 56%, which is the lowest level since March. Exchange copper stocks in China: Shanghai Futures The Yangshan premium fell by 20.3% compared to last week, reaching?79.909 tonnes, the lowest level since August. The Yangshan Premium On Thursday, the remained at $95 per ton, its highest level since May 2025. Other metals like aluminium, zinc, and lead also fell. Lead dropped 0.2%, to $1,868.50, while tin lost 1.4%, to $52,250. (Reporting and additional reporting by Solomon Cefai, Editing by Janane Vekatraman and Eileen Soreng).
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India's JSW Steel beats its quarterly profit forecast on the back of firmer prices and steady volumes
India's JSW Steel reported a?profit in the first quarter that was more than twice as high, exceeding analyst estimates. Net profit margins also improved due to a?resilient volume and?firmer domestic prices, which outweighed the?pressure?from higher coal costs. The top steelmaker in the country reported on Friday a net profit of 482.79 million rupees (46.51 billion rupiahs) for the three-month period ended June 30. LSEG data shows that analysts had predicted an average of 31.11 billion rupees. Elara Capital analysts said that prices of flat steel products like hot-rolled and cold-rolled coils rose in India both sequentially and on an annual basis, due to a weaker rupee as well as higher Chinese export offers. According to Jefferies, the expansion of capacity across Indian steelmakers led to a healthy annual volume growth. JSW Steel said that its sales volume increased 4% on an annual basis during the third quarter. Analysts had expected 448.07 million rupees. Revenue from operations increased by 9.8%, to 473.64 milliards of rupees. Steelmaker's net profits margins jumped from 5.12% to 9.91%, thanks to better realisations. The domestic flat steel price, which makes up the bulk of JSW’s product mix, has held up better than the prices of long?steel, but the rising costs of coking coal and iron ore, two key raw materials have moderated some of the benefits. The cost of materials consumed increased by 18.4%, resulting in an increase of 3.7% for total expenses to 418.30 Billion Rupees. The company's capex guidance for fiscal 2027, which is 220-240 billion rupees (US$1), remained the same. ($1 = 96.3350 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
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Gold prices drop the most in six weeks as inflation fears are fueled by Middle East conflict
Gold is on track to suffer its largest weekly loss in six weeks on Friday as the escalating U.S. - Iran conflict has pushed up oil prices. This will increase inflationary pressures, and strengthen the case for higher U.S. rates. Gold spot was up 0.6% to $3,993.22 an ounce at 0758 GMT. It had been as low as it has been since July 1, earlier in the day. U.S. Gold Futures for August Delivery gained 0.1% to $ 3,996.90. The metal is down 3% this week, the biggest drop since June 1. This week's softer U.S. inflation data has not been enough to offset the Middle East conflict. Tim Waterer is the chief market analyst for?KCM Trade. He said that gold has made tentative moves higher today, after seeing the metal drop below $4,000 attracted bargain hunters. Waterer stated that "geopolitical risk in the Middle East is still present with inflation and yield fears being the predominant forces holding back gold". The oil price has risen by about 12% in the past week due to supply concerns raised by the escalated conflict between Iran and the United States. Oil prices are on the rise, which could increase inflation fears and interest rate increases. In a high interest rate environment, non-yielding assets like gold tend to struggle as investors move towards assets that offer higher returns. Lorie Logan, the Dallas Federal Reserve president, became the first member of Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh’s new colleagues to publicly call for a rate increase. Fed Vice-Chair Philip 'Jefferson' also said he was open to raising interest rates if inflation did not improve in the near future. According to the CME FedWatch?Tool, traders are pricing in 73% of a rate increase in December. This week, gold discounts in India reached a new high as buyers remained on the sidelines in anticipation of lower prices. Premiums in China were largely stable. Silver spot fell?0.1% per ounce to $55.45, platinum dropped 1.9% to 1,586.63, and palladium was down 1% at $1,237.47. All three metals are headed for a loss this week. (Reporting from Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru and Swati verma; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob Phillips)
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Metals like copper and industrial metals are falling as Middle East conflict weighs on the demand outlook
Copper and the base metal complex as a whole fell on Friday due to deteriorating risk sentiment from the Middle East conflict. This prompted inflation fears and cast a shadow on the demand outlook. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.01%, to $13,461 per metric ton at 0715 GMT. Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract fell by 0.73%, to 103 550 yuan (15,284.13) per ton. Copper, also known as "Dr Copper", fluctuated throughout the week. In London, it is expected to end the week with a marginal gain of 0.08%. As a result of the breakdown of the peace talks, and the increasing fighting between Iran and the U.S., shipments have been disrupted through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude prices have risen by nearly 12% in the last week, a result of the breakdown of peace talks and the escalation?of fighting between Iran and America. Gold, which does not yield, was on track for its worst weekly loss in the past six weeks despite a slight?uptick on Friday. This is because of bets that rising inflation would keep rates high for longer. The economic activity of industrial minerals is dampened by higher interest rates. The market's sentiment was boosted by a series of economic data that showed a softer June. The demand for copper is also being supported by the recent withdrawals of LME stockpiles and by a?good interest in buying from China, which is the largest consumer. The Yangshan premium On Thursday, the, which tracks "buying interest" there, was at its highest level since May 2025, at $95 per ton. LME Nickel fell?2.26%, while SHFE nickel dropped 1.57%. Nickel's decline erased a large part of the rally that occurred on Monday, when prices rose due to concerns about raw material supplies. Aluminium, zinc, and lead all fell in value on the?LME. Tin also dropped by 1.76%. Aluminium ticked up 0.09% on SHFE. Zinc fell 0.73%. Lead rose 1.8%. Tin lost 1.49%.
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QUOTES - 'Bloodbath:' Analysts react on Asian shares falling due to tech selloff
Asian markets fell sharply on the Friday. Equity benchmarks in Japan, Taiwan and China dropped as much as 6 percent, as global declines in technology stocks intensified. Japan's Nikkei benchmark 225 index has entered correction territory after falling more than 10% from its June 25 high. TAKAMASA ikeda, SENIOR PORTFOLIO MANGER,?GCI RESOURCES MANAGEMENT TOKYO : The Nikkei index is highly correlated to the SOX. The SOX index's growth was not sustainable, and a correction has occurred. A correction was expected, but is happening sooner than the market anticipated." The market is now unsure if hyperscalers can make returns to justify their massive investment. These investments are financed by high-leverage loans from private lenders and banks. CHRISTOPHER FORBES, DIRECTOR OF ASIA AND THE MIDDLE-EAST, CMC MARS, SINGAPORE "They were good (technical) earnings. It just shows how much has been baked into the price. SpaceX is a good proxy for the market sentiment at this time, and it's well below the IPO. I'm not worried about the panic. People are still buying gold and Silver and losing trades. The market is currently selling off because the world is watching the yields rise. JOHAN JAVEUS SENIOR ECONOMIST SEB STOCKHOLM The selloff was probably a combination of factors, where profit-taking in many AI stocks and the persistent doubts about an AI investment bubble were the main drivers. Many investors are extra nervous because the SpaceX IPO did so badly. KEI OKAMURA PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT, NEUBERGER BERMAN TOKYO "I believe the Fed was probably a trigger." Kevin Warsh's comments and shifting views on what appeared to be quite hawkish Fed policies started a cascading effect towards taking the chips off of the table. "We began to see a lot of momentum in the sales pressure. First, it was the high-profile names, like SK Hynix or Samsung. But then, the trend spread." The Nikkei is trending just as bad if not even worse. "The word 'bloodbath,' is accurate as it is happening across the board." FABIEN YIP, MARKET ANALYST, IG, SYDNEY: "I think investors are now more concerned about sustainability than just the growth numbers... but rather whether these numbers can be achieved while maintaining a certain healthiness on the balance sheet." The unwinding will also exaggerate any decline. If the selloffs continue into the U.S. sessions, I believe Korea will be disastrous when it reopens." SHOICHI ARISAWA FELLOW, INVESTMENT RESEARCH PARTNER, IWAI COSMO SECURITY, TOKYO "I think the correction in the market is continuing as a result of the steep rise that preceded this." The business environment around AI and semiconductor companies or the current outlook of semiconductor demand has not changed. NAOKI FUJIWARA SENIOR FUND MANAGEMENT SHINKIN ASSET MANAGEMENT TOKYO The market can't trust the memory makers outlook because demand is expected rise. But it could be that their customers are buying ahead of price increases. Next week, we will have earnings from Alphabet and other memory users. If they have a positive outlook, the stock market could rebound. If the Nikkei drops to 63,000 that means shares are trading at 17 times their PER which is cheap compared to?current market. WEN XUNNENG is the CEO of ZHU LIU?ASSET MANAGEMENT in Shanghai: The global AI bubble has burst. The correction in A-shares followed the pullbacks of South Korean and U.S. stocks." The AI industry is growing, but that doesn't mean the stock market will continue to rise. The large number of quantitative funds in China also amplifies volatility. It will take a long time for China's technology stocks to stabilize." SHRIKANT KALE, SENIOR QUANTITATIVE STRATEGIST, JEFFERIES, HONG KONG: The market may be beginning to discount the normalisation of earnings growth expectations among AI beneficiaries. This shift is from near-perfect pricing execution and continual upgrades towards a more sustainable trajectory. ZHIWEI ZHANG, CHIEF ECONOMIST, PINPOINT ASSET MANAGEMENT, HONG KONG: It (the correction) seems to be largely technical, rather than fundamental. It doesn't appear that there has been a major shift in expectations for tech capex. It is more an adjustment of crowded places that caused a'state of stampede. GARY TAN PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT, ALLSPRING GLOBAL INVESTIMENTS, Singapore: The flows that we see suggest this is more of a reaction to the higher yields than a knee-jerk reaction. Equity flows indicate that investors are taking profit on some of the largest AI winners, rather than making high-conviction moves into year-to date laggards like software, consumer or internet names. Reporting by Rocky Swift and Tom Westbrook; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair.
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Gold prices drop the most in six weeks as inflation fears are fueled by Middle East conflict
The price of gold was set to?fall? by its biggest weekly loss since 2006 on Friday as the escalating U.S. Iran conflict pushed up oil prices. This increased inflationary pressures, and strengthened the case for higher U.S. rates. Spot gold rose 0.8% to $4,002.39 an ounce at 0624 GMT. It had fallen as low as it has been since July 1. U.S. Gold Futures for August Delivery gained 0.4% to $4.006.10. Metal has fallen 3% this week, the most since June 1. The Middle East conflict is outweighing the support of softer June U.S. This week, the latest inflation figures were released. Tim Waterer is the chief analyst at KCM Trade. He said that gold was making small steps up today, after seeing the metal slip below $4,000 sparked some bargain-hunting. Waterer stated that "the Middle East is still a geopolitical risk, and inflation and yield are the main factors holding back gold." The oil price has risen by about 12% in the past week due to supply concerns raised by the escalated conflict between Iran and the United States. Oil prices are on the rise, which could increase inflation fears and interest rate increases. In a high interest rate environment, non-yielding assets like gold tend to struggle as investors look for higher return assets. Lorie Logan, the Dallas Federal Reserve president, became the first member of Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh’s new colleagues to publicly call for a rate increase. Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson also suggested that he would be willing to raise rates if inflation did not improve in the near future. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders are pricing in 73% of a rate increase in December. This week, gold?discounts widened in India to a month-high as buyers remained 'on the sidelines' in anticipation of lower prices. Premiums in China remained largely unchanged. Silver spot rose 0.6% to $55.83 an ounce. Platinum fell 1% to 1,602.02 while palladium slipped 0.4% to 1 244.84. All three metals are headed for a loss this week. (Reporting from Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru and Swati verma; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob Phillips)
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ASIA GOLD-Indian gold discounts have increased to a one-month-high; China demand remains weak
This week, gold?discounts?in India increased?to an all-time high?as 'weak jewellery demand kept buyers away and the hope of lower prices kept them on the sidelines. Premiums in China remained largely unchanged amid muted retail sales. Indian dealers quoted discounts Up to $45 per ounce, including 15% import duty and 3% in sales tax, over the official domestic price, compared to a discount of up $19 last weekend. Retail jewellery demand is weak. Harshad Ajmera, of JJ Gold House in Kolkata, said that most customers just exchange old jewellery for new. "Jewellers don't buy much fresh gold" because they are only exchanging old jewelry for new. On Friday, domestic gold prices fell to 139,850 rupees for 10 grams, while spot international gold?hit its lowest level in more than two weeks and was heading towards its largest weekly decline?in six. "There is no big festival coming up." The demand will be muted until prices show a significant correction, said a Mumbai bullion dealer at a private banking institution. Bullion in China traded at a premium of up to $7 per ounce above the global benchmark spot rate The price of remained largely unchanged from the previous week, when it traded between a $1 discount and a $5 premium. Bernard Sin, regional director of Greater China at MKS PAMP, said: "Retail appetite is muted. Jewellery sales are low, households are cautious, and ETFs are bleeding assets. Yet the People's Bank of China continues to anchor the market by accumulating steady reserves." In Hong Kong, gold Singapore: $1 of premium is traded at par. At par with a $2 premium, and in Japan At a discount of $0.50 ANZ analysts say Hong Kong's launching of a?new gold clearance system last week is a step towards building market infrastructure. The near-term impact of the system on jewellery demand will be minimal, but it supports Chinese institutional and reserve manager demand as well as cross-border investments, which reinforces the long-term bullish argument for gold in Asia.
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Gold set to suffer its biggest weekly loss since 2006 as inflation fears fuelled by the Iran War
Gold was set to suffer its?largest weekly loss in six weeks on Friday as the escalating U.S. Iran conflict pushed up oil prices. This increased inflationary pressures, and strengthened the case for higher U.S. rates. Gold spot was up 0.3% to $3,980.64 an ounce at 0455 GMT. It had touched its lowest level since July 1, earlier in the day. U.S. Gold futures for August delivery fell 0.2% to $3,984.10. Metal prices have fallen 3.4% this week. This is the biggest drop since June 1. The ongoing Middle East tensions are outweighing support provided by softer U.S. inflation figures released this week. Tim Waterer is the chief market analyst for KCM Trade. He said that despite the lower CPI and PPI numbers, traders couldn't rejoice over the lower inflation figures because of the recent spike in oil prices. "Geopolitical risk in the Middle East is still present, and inflation and yield fears are the predominant forces that hold gold back." Iran and the United States traded intensifying fire Thursday, in a weeklong escalation which has largely undone last month's ceasefire. The limited oil flow out of the Strait of Hormuz has caused the price of oil to rise by about 12% this week. Tehran asked the Houthi movement to be ready to close the Red Sea export route. Oil prices are on the rise, which could increase inflation fears and interest rate increases. In a high interest rate environment, non-yielding assets like gold tend to struggle as investors gravitate towards assets that offer higher returns. Lorie Logan, the Dallas Federal Reserve president, became the first new Fed chairman Kevin Warsh colleague to publicly call for a rate increase. Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said he was also 'open to raising rates in the event of a near-term inflation improvement. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders are pricing in a 73% probability of an interest rate hike for December. Silver spot?fell by 0.6%, to $55.20 an ounce. Platinum lost 1.1%, to $1.599.17. Palladium slipped 0.4%, to $1.244.16. All three metals are headed for a loss this week. (Reporting from Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru and Swati verma; Editing from Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob Phillips)
Gas plant in France at risk of failure due to high temperatures
The Mediterranean Sea's high temperatures, which have limited the availability of cooling water for gas plants in southern France, could lead to a gas plant going offline on Thursday evening. This would add further pressure to an energy system that is already under stress due to reduced nuclear output.
Early summer heatwaves have caused temperatures to rise to unheard of levels in Europe, leading water shortages, fires and even deaths.
The French utility EDF has issued a?restriction? notice for its 930 megawatt Martigues power plant. This is the first time in this summer that an electricity plant powered by gas could be?at-risk of being shut down due to heat.
EDF said that an exemption had been granted for the gas plant to continue operating beyond the normal threshold of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). This was until September 15th, but the extended limit was already at risk.
Due to high river temperatures, the outage will add to the 4.9 Gigawatts of nuclear?capacity that was unavailable on Thursday evening. A further 2.5 GW of nuclear capacity is unavailable due to low river levels.
Temperatures are expected to fall, but the drought is worsening
The French energy mix is dominated by nuclear power, which accounts for about 70% of total energy supply. About 14% of France’s total capacity is affected by the nuclear outages.
Thibault Laconde is the founder of Callendar Climate Data Analytics. "We've seen two waves in climate-related outages that were unprecedented?in severity and timing.
Due to high temperatures on Friday, additional nuclear reactors will regulate their output. Meanwhile, an outage at 'the Bugey 3' reactor is expected to be resolved on Friday evening when temperatures begin to cool.
The heat-related outage at Golfech 2 in southern France should end by July 25.
Low water levels in the Meuse River, which is part of a water sharing agreement with Belgium, have forced the Chooz plant to shut down around 2.5 GW.
MeteoFrance has said that the heatwave in France is likely to continue to recede over the next few days. By the weekend, the high temperatures are expected to be confined mainly to the southeast.
It added that the drought had worsened every day since May due to a lack of rainfall and exceptionally high temperatures. Reporting by Forrest Crellin, Editing by Nina Chestney Joe Bavier Jan Harvey
(source: Reuters)