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Informist, Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026

By Reshma Ravi

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of copper fell sharply on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange Thursday due to the US Federal Reserve's hawkish stance on rate cuts, analysts said. Market sentiment was also hurt due to a sharp rise in inventories and weak demand. 

"...LME inventories surged by nearly 19,000 tonnes to 330,375 tonnes, the highest since September 2019, indicating weaker physical demand," analysts at Kedia Advisory said in a note. Sluggish consumption in China and reduced shipment to the US due to tariffs further pressured prices, he added. 

COPPER prices fell after the US Federal Reserve maintained its policy stance, signalling no rate cut until inflation eases, weighing on global growth expectations and metal demand. The US Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday left the federal funds target range unchanged at 3.50-3.75%, as was widely expected. The committee said the implications of the US-Israel war on Iran for the US economy were uncertain. Typically, lower interest rates boost the economy, increasing demand for commodities such as base metals.

In his press remarks following the Fed's decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the US central bank would look through the impact of higher oil prices induced by the West Asia conflict if there's more progress this year in bringing down core inflation driven by goods prices.

"Rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and higher energy costs have added inflation concerns, impacting industrial metals sentiment," analysts said. The West Asia conflict, now in its third week, escalated sharply as Israel hit Iran's South Pars gasfield Wednesday – the first reported strike on Iranian energy infrastructure in the current conflict. Iran accused Israel of striking its facilities in the huge South Pars gas field and retaliated by vowing attacks on oil and gas targets throughout the Gulf, firing missiles at Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Qatar said Iranian missile attacks on the Ras Laffan Industrial City, the country's main gas facility, have caused "significant damage". 

At 1923 IST, on the MCX, the March futures contract of:

--ALUMINIUM was at INR 327.80 a kg, down 5%
--Copper was at INR 1,090.90 a kg, down 5.4%
–-LEAD was at INR 186.60 a kg, down 0.5%
–-ZINC was at INR 307.15 a kg, down 2.5%

The April futures contract of NICKEL was at INR 1,535.00 a kg, down 3.4%

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 312.00-INR 335.00

--Copper contract seen at INR 1,090.00-INR 1,130.00
--Lead contract seen at INR 186.00-INR 189.00

--Zinc contract seen at INR 305.00-INR 312.00

--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,480.00-INR 1,570.00

End

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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