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METALS-Copper gives up gains, heads for 5th straight daily drop on macro concerns

BY Reuters | ECONOMIC | 04/29/26 06:14 AM EDT

(Recasts with copper's decline; updates prices)

April 29 (Reuters) - Copper eased on Wednesday after a strong start and was heading for a fifth straight daily loss as equity markets slipped and fears over global economic growth returned due to rising oil prices.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.3% at $12,990 a metric ton at 1600 GMT, after climbing as much as 0.9% earlier in the session as Chinese consumers bought the dip ahead of the Labour Day holiday from Friday.

Shortages of diesel, used by miners, due to the conflict in the Middle East have lent support to copper lately, but a 6% jump in crude oil prices on Wednesday, combined with a firmer dollar, was weighing on the industrial metals complex.

The strong negative correlation of copper to oil prices seen since the start of the war is most likely because more expensive oil is seen as a tax on manufacturing, Daria Efanova, head of research at Sucden Financial, said on a webinar. The global refined copper market was in a 276,000-ton surplus in February, the International Copper Study Group said on Tuesday, with its view echoed by BNP Paribas.

"We see the refined copper oversupply in 2025 being sustained in 2026 and 2027," the French bank said in a note, nonetheless raising its price forecasts for both years, with a base case for copper to hit about $14,000 a ton this quarter.

"Currently, the copper market appears to be pricing in extreme shortages despite historically high visible inventories" due to fund buying, said David Wilson, BNP Paribas' head of metals strategy. Nickel was down 1.4% at $19,190 a ton after earlier touching its highest since June 2024 amid production cuts in Indonesia, while aluminium fell 1.7% to $3,479.

Zinc fell 1.8% to $3,310, touching a two-week low, lead lost 0.4% to $1,948 and tin was down 1% to $48,455. (Reporting by Tom Daly; additional reporting by Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Kirsten Donovan)

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