Copper prices lacked direction on Tuesday as investors waited ​for news on ⁠whether peace talks between the United States and Iran would go ahead, as ‌well as a Federal Reserve chair confirmation hearing that could provide clues on interest rates.

Benchmark three-month copper ​on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.1% at $13,288 per metric ton in official open outcry activity, ​after ending ​down 0.5% in the previous session.

The United States expressed confidence that talks with Iran would still take place and a senior Iranian official said ⁠Tehran was considering joining, but significant hurdles and uncertainty remain as the end of a ceasefire looms.

"The lack of directional move suggests that, for now, the complex is waiting for clearer signals from macro and geopolitical developments," brokerage Sucden Financial said in a note ​on industrial ‌metals.

The dollar index ⁠nudged up 0.1%, ⁠making greenback-denominated metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Investors were also focused on Fed chair ​nominee Kevin Warsh's Senate hearing on Tuesday, which will test ‌his independence from a White House that had criticised ⁠current Fed Chair Jerome Powell multiple times for failing to cut rates sooner.

In China, refined copper output rose to a monthly record in March, showing no cutbacks despite last year's vow by smelters to trim output by 10% to counter falling processing fees.

Elsewhere, aluminium added 0.3% to $3,568 a ton, as concerns over Gulf supplies persist, while zinc was the biggest gainer on the LME, rising 1.1% to $3,447.50. Investors were likely hedging their short positions on zinc, used to galvanise steel, by buying futures ‌contracts, one trader said.

Broker Marex said the overall speculative ⁠long position on zinc was the highest since the second ​quarter of 2024.

Lead climbed 0.4% to $1,981, tin added 0.7% to $51,040 and nickel nudged up 0.2% to $18,290. Nickel contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange will be opened to overseas traders for ​the first time ‌from today's evening session in China.

(Reporting by Tom Daly; additional ⁠reporting by Dylan Duan and Lewis Jackson; ​Editing by Eileen Soreng, Subhranshu Sahu, Janane Venkatraman and Tasim Zahid)