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. 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. Metals meltdown After the LME opened for trading, copper prices plunged almost 4%, with other metals also dropping.

Source: Mint January 30, 2026 09:19 UTC