Market News

(Bloomberg) -- Copper and aluminum ticked higher — after suffering major declines on Thursday — in response efforts by the US and Israel to ease concerns about the deepening conflict in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces would no longer target energy infrastructure, while President Donald Trump vowed not to deploy ground troops against Iran. The comments came after a torrid few hours for commodities on Thursday as oil prices surged, fears of a global economic slowdown increased and metals slid sharply lower.

The war in the Persian Gulf has roiled metals markets by threatening a wave of supply disruptions, especially in a global aluminum market that gets about a 10th of output from the region. But broader fears about demand have dominated trading this week.

Higher prices for oil and gas will hurt manufacturing and economic activity worldwide, while fueling inflation that forces central banks to take a more hawkish stance on interest rates. This means traders are now closely monitoring crude prices, which eased on Friday.

The drop in copper prices this month is aiding Chinese demand, however, as fabricators returning after the Lunar New Year holidays buy the metal. Inventories in Shanghai and Guangdong have fallen about 8% from a six-year high on March 9, according to Shanghai Metals Market.

Copper’s drop on the London Metal Exchange has outpaced declines on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, opening a window for traders to import the metal into China, said Levi Xiao, a trader at Wooray Commodities Pte. Ltd. Imports are expected to pick up for copper arriving in April and May, he said.

Copper rose 0.8% to $12,240 a ton on the LME as of 7:57 a.m. in London. Aluminum gained 0.8% to $3,277.50. They were both down more than 4% for the week, on track for their biggest weekly declines in almost a year. Iron ore climbed 1.1% to $108.30 a ton in Singapore.