Non-ferrous metals prices in the London Metal Exchange (LME) increased in the last trading session on 22 March, 2023.
Three-month contract prices of aluminum futures were up by 0.9% to $2,286/t, zinc prices were up by 0.1%, lead inched up by 1.1% and nickel decreased by 0.2%. Copper futures inched up by 1.5%.
UK inflation rises in Feb’23
UK’s inflation unexpectedly jumped in February, as food and energy bills continued to rise.
Consumer prices in February rose by 10.4% from a year earlier. The office for National Statistics data showed.
USA hikes interest rate
America’s central bank, Federal Reserve, on Wednesday hiked interest rates by 25 basis points to tame high inflation despite the banking crisis. The Fed was earlier expected to raise rates by 50 basis points, but the banking crisis in the US appears to have prompted it to go slow to avoid a further meltdown. The central bank has committed to bringing down the inflation to 2% from currently over 6%.
India
Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), India’s largest car manufacturer and consumer of aluminium, has released its March 2023 monthly settlement prices for aluminium ADC12 alloy ingots at INR 212,400/t, up by INR 4,800/t m-o-m. February 2023’s monthly settlement price was INR 207,600/t. ADC12 prices from Maruti Suzuki are the standard for determining domestic aluminium price trends. It may be noted here that MSIL consumes a monthly average of 7,500-10,000 t of ADC12 automotive alloy ingots, making it the largest user in the industry.
Indian copper prices remained supported yesterday. Market participants shared that healthy transactions have been reported amid improved sentiments. Prices are likely to remain rangebound until the end of the month.
Oil prices inch up
Brent oil futures inched up by 1% to $76.07 per barrel. Crude oil WTI futures inched up by 0.80% to $70.16 per barrel.
Prices of natural gas were recorded at $2.206/MMBtu at the time of publishing this insight, down by 11% as against the last closing.
Dollar index
The dollar index, which gauges the value of the dollar in a basket of six different currencies, hovered at 102.10 at the time of publishing this insight. The index inched down by 0.24% against the last session.
The rupee was recorded at 82.23 against the US dollar, appreciating 0.30 paise as against the previous closing.
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