The present invention provides a metallic cord for reinforcing a tire moldable in a tire manufacturing step without complicating operations and keeping strength by reducing rusting and an excellent pneumatic tire employing the metallic cord.The inventive metallic cord for reinforcing a tire is formed by shaping a bundle prepared by paralleling a plurality of metallic wires having substantially circular sections in an unstranded state with a binder of a polymer material having a melting point of 50.degree. C. to 200.degree. C. The polymer material is preferably low-density polyethylene or medium-density polyethylene. The diameters of the metallic wires are preferably 0.15 to 0.3 mm.