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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.
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.
(By Laura Avetisyan and Yvonne Yue Li)