STOCKS | LME Metal Prices Pull Back as Middle East Tensions Escalate

According to Jin10, industrial metal prices pulled back as hostilities in the Middle East escalated, after a key London Metal Exchange (LME) price gauge surged to a record high. The LME's six-base-metals index hit an all-time high on Tuesday, copper jumped to a new peak, aluminum extended its gains, and zinc rose above $4,000 per ton for the first time since 2022. Supply-side problems played an important role in the rally, but the U.S.-Iran war still poses a risk to prices by threatening global growth. In the latest escalation, the U.S. military said it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers carrying crude after an attempted attack on a U.S. Navy ship in Tehran. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement today that, in response to U.S. strikes on Iranian tankers in the Persian Gulf, it struck two U.S. warships and eight tankers, and also targeted 10 violating vessels. Brent crude rebounded to near $100, adding to inflation concerns ahead of Friday's U.S. CPI release.