Metal markets hold steady as Trump-Putin meeting begins

me-metals: Industrial and precious metals held steady as markets awaited the outcome of the summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

According to me-metals cited from mining.com, Metals from gold to copper traded in a narrow range Friday ahead of the talks in Alaska. Any arrangement bringing an end to the war in Ukraine could boost growth-linked commodities such as copper, while haven assets like gold could jump if the talks break down.

Trump greeted his Russian counterpart with a handshake in Alaska as they kicked off a highly anticipated summit with the US leader looking to secure an end to the war in Ukraine. A joint press conference is planned for after their meeting.

Before that, economic data showed a broad-based advance in US retail sales, boosted by car sales and major online promotions. Later, a separate report showed consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell for the first time since April and inflation expectations rose.

The conflict in Ukraine has been a key catalyst for gold’s long rally, with prices doubling since late 2022 as US sanctions against Russia’s financial system boosted the appeal of bullion as a reserve asset. Any signs of a ceasefire could ease demand for the precious metal as a haven, which has become broader as investors have weighed the risks of Trump’s adversarial approach to politics and trade.

Meanwhile, industrial metals would be sensitive to signs that Russia is on a path to returning to freer trade with Western countries. The war has racked Russia’s economy and piled pressure on Europe’s industrial base, while spurring a major reorientation in global trade flows as western consumers shunned metal from Russia, and governments targeted its producers with sanctions.

Copper was up 0.1% to settle at $9,773.50 a ton on the London Metal Exchange at 5:50 p.m. local time, while other industrial metals were mixed. Gold was flat at about $3,337 an ounce, while silver, platinum and palladium slipped.

source: mining.com