Base metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) and London Metal Exchange (LME) closed on a volatile note on the last trading day as investors await clarity on the Fed’s next move in interest rates.
The US dollar steadied just below recent highs on Wednesday, as market participants sought more clues on coming Friday’s US Federal reserve meeting on whether weak US data may slow the pace of prospective Federal Reserve rate hikes.
A majority of market players also expect the Fed will maintain its momentum of either 50 or 75 basis points hikes in September.
Base metals market performance – 24 August
SHFE copper rose 0.65%, aluminium lost 0.94%, lead gained 0.53%, and zinc fell 0.29%.
LME 3-month copper down slightly by 1.06%, lead almost stable, aluminium up 1.67%, zinc rise marginally by 0.83% and nickel decreased the most by 1.80%.
MCX aluminum down 0.4%, nickel down 1.4%, lead fell 0.9%, copper down 0.8%, zinc almost stable d-o-d.
Stock levels fluctuate d-o-d
LME registered warehouse stocks of base metals rose by up to 4% d-o-d. However, nickel and lead were down by up to 0.30%, SteelMint notes.
Oil prices move up
Brent oil futures rose by 2% to $101.55 per barrel and crude oil WTI futures increased 0.16% to $94.89 per barrel at the time of reporting.
Currency exchange
The Indian rupee hovered at around 79.85 against the US dollar, close to the 80-mark. The dollar index, which gauges the value of the dollar in a basket of six different currencies, hovered at around $108.07 at the time of reporting.
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