Copper under pressure as investors weigh  China, US economic data 

Copper was under pressure on Wednesday, as investors weighed gloomy Chinese macroeconomic conditions with lower U.S. consumer inflation data. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange lost 0.49% at $13,576.5 a metric ton by 0700 GMT. The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange pared back earlier gains, ticking 0.12% higher, to 104,220 yuan ($15,392.11) a ton. Top metals consumer and world's second-largest economy China's GDP growth cooled to a 3.5-year low, missing forecasts on weak domestic demand, official data showed. The Yangshan copper premium, which tracks Chinese buying interest, remained strong. At $90 a ton on Tuesday, it was at its highest price since May 2025. Earlier in the day, both copper contracts ticked higher after U.S. consumer inflation slowed more than expected in June, cooling fears of higher-for-longer interest rates that could dampen economic activity. "The diminishing prospects of a rate hike boosted sentiment across the base metals sector," Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ, said in a note. Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened to close "all other export corridors that benefit the U.S. and its allies," Iranian media reported, after Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports. Oil extended gains on Wednesday. Aluminium pared back earlier gains on the LME to add only 0.05%, while it dipped 0.13% on the SHFE. Disruption to supply from the Middle East, which accounts for around 9% of global aluminium smelting capacity, and waning inventories have supported prices so far. Consumers have sought alternative supply sources and are buying larger shipments from China, which exported a record high volume of unwrought aluminium and its products in June. Among other LME metals, zinc was little changed, down only 0.03%, lead lost 0.48%, nickel lost 0.48% and tin lost 1.43%. Elsewhere on SHFE, zinc added 0.2%, lead dropped 1.86%, nickel lost 1.01% and tin added 0.16%.