Copper futures dropped 1% to around $5.7 per pound on Thursday, giving back gains from the previous session as a fragile US-Iran ceasefire weighed on risk sentiment. A senior Iranian official said elements of the ceasefire proposal had already been breached following fresh Israeli strikes on Lebanon, while Tehran continued to largely block the Strait of Hormuz.
On Wednesday, copper had surged nearly 4% after the US, Israel, and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire aimed at enabling negotiations for a potential resolution to the conflict. The temporary reopening of Hormuz is expected to ease investor concerns over inflation and slowing global industrial activity, which have clouded metals demand. Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs noted near-term downside risks for copper if the critical waterway remained closed, as higher energy costs could weigh on global economic growth.
