Renewed US-Iran military action and a CENTCOM-announced additional self-defense
strike against Iran, following US retaliatory strikes after a US helicopter was
shot down, raised geopolitical risk and pushed oil prices higher, adding to
inflation concerns after US May CPI posted its fastest gain in over three years.
The moves injected volatility into global financial markets and pressured
industrial metals: LME copper fell 0.6% to $13,431/tonne at 11:40 a.m. Beijing
time, touching $13,378 intraday, its lowest since May 20. Zinc slipped 1%;
aluminium rebounded 0.5% after a 2.3% drop on Wednesday.