Base metals prices on all major exchanges showed largely positive trends on 22 December, 2022.
London Metal Exchange’s (LME’s) three-months aluminium contract went up by 0.6%, zinc fell by 2%, copper edged down by 1% and nickel fell by 1.2%, while lead increased by 0.2%.
Shanghai (SHFE) copper rose 0.27%, aluminium added 0.03%, lead gained 1.32%, zinc lost 0.58%, tin jumped 0.3%, and nickel climbed 1.61%.
MCX futures prices remained volatile: nickel was up 2.8% to INR 2,425/kg, lead up 0.9% to INR 187/kg, while copper fell 0.4% at INR 712/kg, aluminium was down 0.4% at INR 207/kg, and zinc fell by 1.9% to INR 264/kg on the last trading day.
Japan CPI Data
Japan’s core consumer price index (CPI), which includes energy costs, rose 3.7% in November from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, matching market forecasts and perking up from a 3.6% gain in October.
India
The Indian copper market saw rangebound prices yesterday. However, copper prices were still on the higher side due to good demand. Also, sellers are not willing to lower their offers amid volatility in LME futures. Aluminium, too, saw rangebound levels; the volatility in exchange prices made buyers cautious.
At this point, it seems unlikely that new Covid variants arising out of the Chinese wave of infections will impact the Indian market.
LME’s stock levels mixed
Base metals stocks at LME-registered warehouses decreased by up to 1.7% in the last session. However, nickel was up by 0.4% and lead stocks remained firm.
Oil prices fall slightly
Brent oil futures was down 1% at $81.61 per barrel, while crude oil WTI futures was almost stable at $78.29 per barrel at the time of publishing this report.
Dollar index
The dollar index, which gauges the value of the dollar in a basket of six different currencies, hovered around 104.37 at the time of publishing this report, was down marginally by 0.06% against the last session.
The rupee was recorded at 82.87 against the US dollar, depreciating 0.15 paise against the previous closing.
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