Base metals prices on all major exchanges showed positive trends today as against last trading day. London Metal Exchange (LME) was closed yesterday for Christmas holiday.
LME’s three-months prices opened mostly on a positive note today, aluminium contract went up by 0.3%, zinc rose by 0.5%, copper edged up by 0.3%, nickel rose by 0.9% and lead decreased by 0.7%.
Low inventories in the LME-registered warehouses continued lending support to non-ferrous metals prices.
MCX futures prices remained positive on last trading day. Nickel was up 0.2% to INR 2,481/kg, lead up 1.3% to INR 192/kg, copper was almost stable at INR 690/kg, aluminium up 0.4% at INR 213/kg and zinc remained almost firm at INR 273/kg on the last trading day.
Shanghai copper added 0.82%, aluminium rose 0.46%, lead gained 1.14%, zinc advanced 1.62%, tin jumped 0.74%, and nickel climbed 1.06%.
Japan’s unemployment rate falls to 2.5% in November 2022
Japan’s unemployment rate fell to 2.5% in November 2022 after standing at 2.6% in the past two months, in line with forecasts and marking the lowest reading since February 2020. The number of unemployed declined on a seasonally adjusted basis by 2.8% to 1.73 million in November from a month ago, while employment ticked down 0.3% to 67.13 million, as per reports.
Japan’s housing starts unexpectedly drops by 1.4% y-o-y
Japan’s housing starts unexpectedly dropped by 1.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) in November 2022, missing market forecasts of a 1.5% rise and following a 1.8% decline in the prior month.
LME’s stock levels remain mixed
Base metals stocks at LME-registered warehouses decreased by up to 1.4% in the last session today. However, copper was up by 0.5% and lead stocks remained firm.
Oil prices rise slightly
Brent oil futures was up 3% at $84.36 per barrel, while crude oil WTI futures rose 2% at $79.87 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 104.05 at the time of publishing this report, was down marginally by 0.25% against the last session.
The rupee was recorded at 82.72 against the US dollar, almost stable against the previous closing.
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