Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly down during morning trading on Friday August 21 after the release of key purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data out of Europe disappointed, while copper futures took the brunt of the decline over the morning in a 1.2% drop.

Markets were for the most part upbeat this morning, Friday August 21, with all of the base metals on the London Metal Exchange firmer, as were most Asian-Pacific equities, although they are firmer within consolidation patterns.

Fastmarkets has made corrections to its daily calculations of nickel and copper physical metal arbitrage into China, after input errors led to inaccurate figures being published.

The Madras High Court of India has rejected Vedanta's plea to restart its Tuticorin copper complex, which has been closed since 2018.

Rio Tinto has further cut its 2020 production guidance for refined copper, by about 16%, after delays to the restart of the smelter at its Kennecott mine in Utah in the United States, the company said this week.

Most of the base metals on the London Metal Exchange were consolidating this morning, Wednesday August 19, after the majority of them extended gains on Tuesday; the exceptions were aluminium and tin, while copper was where the main action was this morning.

There are numerous crosscurrents running through the markets this morning, Tuesday August 18, with the base metals mainly firmer and gold rebounding strongly, while equity markets were mixed and the dollar continued to weaken.

Markets across the board were in consolidation mode this morning, Thursday August 13, with metals and Asian-Pacific equities mixed, while pre-market major western equity index futures were weaker.

Increased choppiness in the base metals in recent days suggests the bullish and bearish camps are getting more balanced and a new fight for supremacy is unfolding.

The dip in base metals prices at the end of last week was a one-day wonder for copper and aluminium after prices for both metals rebounded yesterday, while consolidation has set in again this morning, Tuesday August 11, and the other metals continue to consolidate too.