London Metal Exchange (LME), the world’s biggest metals bourse, suffered a one-hour trading outage at the open, leading to a delayed start on Friday amid sharp gyrations in the metal prices this week.
Several media reports stated that the LME faced a one-hour delay to the start of trading on Friday after a technical problem. Mint, however, could not independently verify this report.
LME sets global prices for certain key base metals like copper, zinc and aluminium. The trading halt in the metal bourse comes as participants grapple with sudden and sharp moves in the metal prices.
Several traders told Bloomberg that speculation was already rife on Friday over who might be sitting on losses after many received a notice from the LME announcing the delay. A prolonged outage could have compounded problems for participants looking to exit positions.
Calls to LME officials in London went unanswered outside business hours, while a spokesperson for Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., which owns the LME, said there was no immediate comment on the incident, the report added.
While trading outages are not uncommon, the reliability has been a major focus for the LME since 2022, after a crisis in the nickel market triggered by a massive short squeeze led to some trades being declared void. That episode prompted an overhaul of regulations, the Bloomberg report stated.
Metals meltdown
After the LME opened for trading, copper prices plunged almost 4%, with other metals also dropping. That followed declines during the previous hour on the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
Copper plunged to near $13,000 a ton on the LME, after peaking above $14,500 on Thursday.
Other metals like gold and silver also faced a selloff in Friday’s trading session, witnessing an up to 11% pullbac from record highs.
(With inputs from agencies)
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