Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) and London Metal Exchange (LME) witnessed losses on 14 July, 2022 as expectations of the Fed rate hike continue to support the dollar. Today, the dollar closed with nearly 1% gain, hitting a record high of 109.30. Also, the Fed officials suggested a 75 basis point hike in July.
The base metals prices fell on last trading day, as surging US inflation fuelled expectations of aggressive policy tightening and slowing economic growth, prompting fears of lower demand.
Notably, as the entire industrial metals market sloped downward, nickel prices followed suit, falling to over 6-months low at $19,402/t at yesterday closing. Moreover, the volumes remain lower than pre-LME shutdown levels, which will continue to foster slow price movement.
Base metals market performance-
SHFE copper slid 1.65%, aluminium rose 0.23%, lead shed 2.16%, and zinc fell 0.77%.
LME copper slid 2%, aluminium fell slightly by upto 0.8%, lead plunge upto 6%, and zinc fell nearly 3%. Nickel fell the most by nearly 9% yesterday.
MCX aluminum lost 0.01%, zinc fell 0.02%, while copper fell 0.03% and lead down 0.04%, d-o-d, on the last trading day.
Stock levels show negative trend
LME warehouse stocks of all base metals fell by upto 3% on a d-o-d basis on the last trading session while zinc declined the most by 2,705 t d-o-d.
Oil prices show recovery d-o-d
Brent oil futures up 0.87% to $99.91 per barrel and crude oil WTI futures rise 0.53% to $96.32 per barrel at the time of reporting.
Oil was up on amid uncertainty about how aggressive the US Federal Reserve will hike interest rates to bring down inflation.
Currency exchange
The Indian rupee ended trading at 79.95 in early morning today as the USD strengthened, Steelmint learnt from sources. Moreover, the dollar is expected to continue to rise.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the currency’s strength against a basket of six other currencies, gained 0.89% to 108.50 at the time of reporting.
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