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Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 24, 2026

 

By Ashutosh Pati

 

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of copper edged lower on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange Tuesday on fading optimism of a de-escalation of the conflict in West Asia after Iran denied US President Donald Trump's claim of "good and productive conversations", according to analysts.

 

"Base metals trading weak with copper slipping below $12,000/ton and zinc also under pressure, reflecting persistent macro and geopolitical headwinds," Kotak Securities said in a report. A rebound in crude oil prices Tuesday revived concern over global growth and inflation, weighing on the price of COPPER, the brokerage said.

 

After trading in the red for most of Monday, copper prices recovered after Trump ordered the military to postpone strikes against Iranian power plants for five days following "productive conversations" with Tehran. However, prices are back in the red Tuesday as the speaker of Iran's parliament posted on social media that no ‌talks had been held with the US, contradicting Trump's claim.

 

"The renewed decline (in copper) followed Tehran's denial of any ongoing negotiations. Copper is down around 10% this month, though the pullback has attracted renewed Chinese buying," analysts at ING Economics said in a report. Copper stocks at warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 22,337 tonnes to 411,121 tonnes in the week ended Friday.

 

At 1706 IST, on the MCX, the March futures contract of:

--ALUMINIUM was steady at INR 330.75 a kg
--Copper was at INR 1,115.45 a kg, down 0.5%
–-LEAD was at INR 187.55 a kg, down 0.1%
–-ZINC was at INR 310.70 a kg, up 0.1%

 

The April futures contract of NICKEL was at INR 1,580.00 a kg, up 0.9%

 

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 328.00-INR 335.00

--Copper contract seen at INR 1,105.00-INR 1,135.00
--Lead contract seen at INR 186.00-INR 189.00

--Zinc contract seen at INR 306.00-INR 312.00

--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,550.00-INR 1,620.00

 

End

 

US$1 = INR 93.86

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

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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