LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Copper rose higher on Wednesday, bouncing back from a more than one-week low in the previous session, as investors stepped in to buy the dip and as industrial metals prices tracked a rebound in tech stocks.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 2.2% at $12,893 a metric ton as of 1700 GMT, after earlier climbing to $12,941. The metal shed 1.8% on Tuesday, hitting its lowest since February 6.
Traders in top metals consumer China were largely absent due to the Lunar New Year. “They rarely leave significant capital in the market” during the holiday, said Panmure Liberum analyst Tom Price, adding that volatility tends to increase and leads to dip buying. “So I think that will offer a little bit of support.”
The base metals complex has instead been taking cues from the Nasdaq, broker Marex said in a note. The Nasdaq Composite was last up 1.3%, as tech shares clawed back ground after an AI-led selloff.
Copper stocks in LME warehouses increased for a 12th straight day to 224,625 tons, the highest in 11 months, with fresh inflows into New Orleans and Kaohsiung.
U.S. sheds now account for almost 18% of all available copper in LME warehouses, while there is still 538,122 tons on the U.S. Comex exchange.
“When inventories and copper prices lift together, something’s not right,” Price said, adding that U.S. copper consumption rates had declined in the last 12 months.
The cash LME copper contract was trading at a discount of $97 a ton to the three-month forward, suggesting no pressing need for near-term metal.
In a broad base metals rally, zinc climbed 2.4% to $3,365.50 a ton, after touching a two-week low on Tuesday, and aluminium was up 1.7% at $3,086.50, poised to snap a four-day losing streak.
Lead gained 0.9% to $1,963.50, nickel jumped 3.1% to $17,375 while tin shed 0.3% to $45,710.
(Reporting by Tom Daly in London; additional reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar, Rashmi Aich and Diti Pujara)
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