METALS-London copper rises to three‑month peak on ceasefire hopes

May 8 (Reuters) - London copper prices rose to a more than three-month high on Friday, keeping them on track for a weekly rise as the markets assessed the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, and booming demand from data centres provided further support.

Benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange climbed 1.1% to $13,550.50 per metric ton by 0716 GMT, its highest level since January 29. It was set for a weekly gain of 5.5%, the most since February 23.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 was up 1.5% at 104,550 yuan ($15,363.59) per ton, and was on course for a weekly gain of about 2.9%.

"We're seeing swings on geopolitical risk, but the underlying story here is about a tight copper market driven by a really strong outlook for AI data centres to build out," said Kyle Rodda, a senior market analyst at Capital.com.

US AND IRAN EXCHANGE FIRE

Oil prices rose and stocks slipped as the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their fragile truce. Many markets in Asia, however, still headed for big weekly gains as AI demand swept up chipmakers. O/R MKTS/GLOB

Iran said the situation had returned to normal and the U.S. said it did not want to escalate.

Hopes of easing tensions in the Middle East provide relief for copper, a metal widely used in power and construction and regarded by analysts as a barometer of macroeconomic health.

Meanwhile, Freeport-McMoRan has pushed back the restart of its flagship Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia by a year, and targets a return to full production by early 2028, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

Among other LME metals, aluminium CMAL3 gained 0.3%, nickel CMNI3 slid 0.4% having scaled a two-year high on Wednesday, lead CMPB3 was down 0.8%, tin CMSN3 shed 0.7% and zinc CMZN3 fell 0.7%.

On the SHFE, aluminium SAFcv1 rose 0.3%, nickel SNIcv1 fell 1.9%, lead SPBcv1 was down 0.8%, zinc SZNcv1 inched up 0.4%, while tin SSNcv1 rose 1.1%.