AI selloff suppresses risk appetite, copper prices follow the decline.

Thursday, copper prices fell alongside other industrial metals. This followed a selloff in AI-related stocks that drained risk appetite from global markets. The London Metal Exchange (LME) copper price fell 0.7% to $14,260 per ton at one point. Asian stock markets moved lower as earnings reports from major technology companies failed to convince investors of the durability of the artificial intelligence trade. Copper had previously benefited from this boom due to its use in data centers and power infrastructure. Copper's pullback from last month's record high of $14,875 per ton was also driven by another factoruncertainty over whether the United States will impose tariffs on refined copper, as U.S. President Donald Trump's second term approaches its midpoint. Tariff expectations have drawn large amounts of copper into U.S. warehouses this year, squeezing supply in other regions. "There is still significant uncertainty in the copper supply-demand balance next year," said Zhenting Zhou, a trader at Hangzhou Chenglian Industrial Co. "Mine supply should improve, U.S. import demand may slow, and China's scrap copper supply should also recover. There is limited upside risk for copper prices." However, concerns about supply disruptions persist. Workers at Highland Valley Copper, the largest copper mine in Canada owned by Teck Resources (TECK.US), have threatened to strike as early as this Saturday. This is the latest signal of labor tensions: prices near record highs are giving employees more confidence to push for a larger share of profits. As of press time, the LME copper price was down 0.4% at $14,294.50 per ton. Aluminum fell 0.6% to $3,023.50; nickel gave back 1%after surging 3.7% in the previous trading session on expectations of coordinated production cuts by Chinese producers in Indonesia. Iron ore in Singapore fell as much as 1.7% to $89.45 per ton, the lowest in nearly two years, before narrowing its decline.