Copper prices rose on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the extension of the ceasefire with Iran, boosting market risk appetite, although continued uncertainty regarding the Middle East conflict limited the metal's gains.

The benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose by 0.3% to reach $13,270 per metric ton during official trading.

The price spread between copper contracts on the U.S. Comex exchange and their LME counterparts—a prominent feature of the copper market in 2025—re-emerged this month, encouraging shipments toward the United States.

Kostas Bintas, global head of metals at Mercuria, stated that copper flows to the United States will continue as long as this price differential persists, likely until July, when a decision regarding potential tariffs on the metal is expected.

Data showed that copper inventories in Comex warehouses have risen by 2% since mid-April to reach 544,887 tons, approaching the record high of 545,867 tons recorded in February. In contrast, LME inventories stood at 395,575 tons following recent declines in its Asian warehouses.

During the Financial Times Global Commodities Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, participants expressed cautious optimism regarding long-term copper prospects while warning of short-term demand risks should the Middle East conflict persist for an extended period.

In other metal markets, aluminum is already experiencing a supply shock described as a "black swan" due to war-related disruptions, which could lead to significant supply shortages this year, according to a senior metals analyst at Mercuria.

LME aluminum rose by 1.3% to $3,604.5 per ton, after having recorded a four-year high of $3,672 on April 16.

Nickel also climbed by 0.8% to $18,370 per ton, supported by expectations of a global market deficit this year. Zinc rose 0.7% to $3,467, while lead declined 0.6% to $1,951, and tin increased by 0.5% to $50,175.

Bitcoin rose above the $78,000 level on Wednesday, supported by U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of an indefinite ceasefire extension with Iran, alongside continued institutional demand flows that boosted market sentiment.

The world's largest digital currency recorded a 3.7% increase to reach $78,712.4 by 09:49 AM ET (13:49 GMT), after touching a 24-hour high of $78,780 in its third consecutive session of gains.

This rise followed Trump's announcement to extend the truce with Iran indefinitely, noting that the decision came partly in response to requests from Pakistani officials to allow more time for peace negotiations in Islamabad. However, this extension remains unilateral, with ambiguity surrounding whether Tehran will officially agree to it.

Despite the truce, tensions have not fully subsided; the United States maintained its naval blockade of Iranian ports, while disruptions continued in the Strait of Hormuz. Nevertheless, markets interpreted these developments as a short-term de-escalation, leading to a decline in oil prices and a weakening of the dollar after previous gains.

Analysts believe that Bitcoin is increasingly behaving as a hybrid asset—combining its status as a high-risk asset with its role as a hedge against geopolitical instability—attracting investment flows when markets price in a mix of relief and uncertainty.

On the other hand, institutional demand provided additional support for prices after MicroStrategy revealed a Bitcoin purchase worth $2.5 billion, in one of its largest deals ever. The company explained that it bought 34,164 units during the week ending April 19, at an average price of approximately $74,395 per coin, raising its total holdings to about 815,000 Bitcoin, with a total value of nearly $61.6 billion.

This deal was primarily funded through capital market activities, as the company raised approximately $2.18 billion from the sale of high-yield preferred shares, in addition to $366 million from the issuance of common stock. These financial instruments, offering yields of nearly 11.5%, have become a primary means for increasing the company's Bitcoin exposure while minimizing the negative effects of ownership dilution.

In contrast, the legal arena saw a notable development as Justin Sun, founder of the Tron network, filed a federal lawsuit in California against the digital currency project affiliated with the Trump family. He accused the project of freezing his tokens and withdrawing his voting rights, while threatening to destroy his assets without notice or legal justification.

Sun stated that he had no choice but to resort to the judiciary, noting that he does not believe Trump would approve of these actions if he were aware of them. Sun had become the largest individual holder of the project's tokens after investing $75 million in late 2024, before his wallet was subsequently blacklisted.

In the broader cryptocurrency market, alternative coins recorded limited gains; Ethereum rose 4.3% to $2,412, while Ripple climbed 1.7% to $1.46.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, recovering from earlier losses following reports that at least three container ships came under fire in the Strait of Hormuz, alongside the stalling of peace talks between the United States and Iran.

Brent crude contracts climbed by 73 cents, or 0.7%, to reach $99.21 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by approximately 59 cents, or 0.7%, to $90.26. Both benchmarks had recorded gains of nearly 3% during Tuesday's session.

Reports indicated that at least three container ships were targeted by gunfire in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy announced the seizure of two vessels, alleging "maritime violations," and their transport to the Iranian coast, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Both Iran and the United States have imposed restrictions on vessel movement in the Strait, which, prior to the outbreak of war in late February, transported about 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies.

U.S. President Donald Trump had earlier announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran hours before its scheduled expiration. However, the announcement appeared unilateral, and it remained unclear whether Iran or Israel would agree to it, especially given the absence of both parties from the peace talks that were scheduled to be held in Pakistan.

In Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the "Druzhba" pipeline for Russian oil transport is ready to resume operations. Conversely, energy sector sources indicated that Russia intends to halt Kazakh oil exports to Germany via the pipeline starting May 1.

Markets are awaiting the release of weekly inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) later on Wednesday. Preliminary data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a decline in crude inventories by approximately 4.5 million barrels last week, with decreases also noted in gasoline and distillate stocks.

Analysts anticipate a draw of 1.2 million barrels from crude inventories for the week ending April 17.

Analysts at PVM stated that if these draws are confirmed and U.S. oil and refined product exports remain strong, it will be seen as evidence of consumers in Europe and East Asia racing to secure oil supplies by any means possible.

The U.S. dollar stabilized on Wednesday near one-week highs amid continued uncertainty regarding the Middle East conflict, even after U.S. President Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran.

Despite this announcement, it remained unclear whether Iran or Israel—the primary U.S. ally in the two-month-old war—would agree to the extension. Prospects for resuming peace talks remained uncertain as the vital Strait of Hormuz for oil shipments stayed largely closed, with reports indicating three vessels came under fire.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency's performance against a basket of six major currencies, was stable at the 98.341 level.

Dominic Banning, head of G10 FX strategy at Nomura, stated that it is difficult to form a strong conviction at this time, but noted that both parties seem more inclined toward making progress rather than escalation, though this outlook remains cautious.

Most other currencies remained unchanged; the euro stabilized at $1.1745, while the British pound reached $1.3511. Data released Wednesday showed that Britain’s annual inflation rate rose to 3.3% in March compared to 3.0% in February, marking the first signal of the Middle East war's impact on prices.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar fell slightly to 159.22 yen following data showing that Japanese exports grew for the seventh consecutive month, overcoming the effects of the conflict in the Gulf.

In another context, investors monitored statements by Kevin Warsh, the White House nominee for Federal Reserve Chair, during his Senate confirmation hearing, which were interpreted as leaning toward monetary hawkishness.

Warsh emphasized that he made no pledges to President Trump regarding interest rate cuts, attempting to reassure lawmakers that he would maintain the central bank's independence while pursuing broad reforms.

Junya Tanase, chief FX strategist at JPMorgan in Tokyo, said the highlight of Warsh's remarks was his emphasis on Federal Reserve independence and his rejection of pressure to cut rates, reflecting a hawkish tone.

However, he noted that the impact of these statements was limited as market expectations did not change significantly, suggesting that dollar strength and rising U.S. bond yields were primarily driven by higher oil prices linked to tensions with Iran.

Traders scaled back expectations regarding the timing of interest rate cuts, as markets remain unconvinced of the possibility of monetary easing before 2027. There is a 58.5% probability that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged through the April meeting of next year, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin rose by 3.28% to $78,225, and Ethereum climbed 3.22% to $2,392.