BEIJING – Base metal prices fell on Wednesday after a hotter-than-expected US inflation report triggered fears of more aggressive Federal Reserve interest rate hikes that could dampen metals demand.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had fallen 0.7 percent to $7,817.50 a ton, extending losses from the previous session.
The most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slid 1.4 percent to 62,260 yuan ($8,941.55) a ton.
Data released late on late Tuesday showed US consumer prices unexpectedly rose in August, with such prices rising at an annual pace of 8.3 percent, not far from the four-decade peak reached in June.
The dollar strengthened further after the CPI shock, posting its biggest daily percentage gain since 2020.
A firm dollar pressures commodities priced in the greenback by making them more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Tuesday’s data also slammed stock and bond prices. Major Wall Street indexes saw their biggest daily percentage declines since June 2020.
LME tin dropped 3.6 percent to $20,620 a ton, zinc declined 0.4 percent to $3,215 a ton and aluminum dipped 0.2 percent to $2,309.50 a ton.
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