Economic concerns overshadow Trump's ceasefire stance, metal sector under collective pressure.

Due to ongoing concerns from investors about the global economic outlook, the response to US President Trump's indication of progress in reaching a peace agreement with Iran was tepid, with metals, including copper, under pressure. Trump stated that he had suspended plans for a new round of military strikes against Iran in order to engage in more negotiations with Tehran. He described this as a response to the calls from Gulf allies. After an initial rebound in copper futures prices, they fell back as Asian stock markets declined, with the resolution of the Iran crisis still uncertain. Looking back at recent copper market performance, copper prices reached a historical closing high last Wednesday, with the market optimistic that copper's application in artificial intelligence and clean energy technologies would shield it from economic shocks. However, market concerns about the possibility of a prolonged blockade in the Hormuz Strait could lead to severe inflation and force major central banks to raise interest rates, causing copper prices to fluctuate. "The outlook is extremely polarized: the global economy is either landing hard or running smoothly," wrote Guy Wolf, global market analysis director at Marex, in a report on the copper market. "In the former case, commodity prices will collapse." On Tuesday, copper prices fell by 0.6% to $13,507 per ton. Prices of aluminum, zinc, and nickel also saw declines. Precious metals were not spared either, with spot gold falling by 0.5% to $4,543.49 per ounce; spot silver falling by 2% to $76.09 per ounce. Platinum dropped by 0.7% and palladium by 1.5%. International oil prices dropped by over 2%, easing some inflation concerns. Gold is seen as a hedge against inflation, but higher interest rates often add pressure to this non-yielding metal. Ilya Spivak, global macro director at Tastylive, stated, "The current market appears to be in a volatile phase of trading on inflation concerns." He added that the market is closely watching the release of the minutes from the April meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Wednesday to look for broad sentiment signals to determine the future direction of macro policy. Furthermore, White House officials announced on Monday that Kevin Warsh will be sworn in by President Trump on Friday as the new chairman of the Federal Reserve. However, high inflation levels may make it difficult for Trump's desired rate cut measures to be implemented.