Metals finished lower... and we are mostly mixed right now in very quiet trading as markets are basically on Fed watch, INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said.
Meanwhile, Glencore-owned copper producer Katanga Mining has settled its legal dispute in the Democratic Republic of Congo with state-run miner Gécamines and has agreed to resolve the capital deficiency at their jointly owned operating subsidiary, Kamoto Copper Co.
Investors’ appetites were also dented following weaker-than-expected Chinese social financing growth data in May.
China’s total social financing growth, a broad measure of credit and liquidity in the economy, declined to 760.8 billion yuan ($118.75 billion) in May, less than half of the gain recorded in the preceding month. It was also the lowest reading in 22 months.
Aluminium, zinc, and tin price tick lower; lead price up
- The three-month copper price closed at $7,257 per tonne, an increase of $35 per tonne from Tuesday’s close. Stocks fell a net 2,775 tonnes to 293,450 tonnes.
- Aluminium’s three-month price slumped $27 per tonne to $2,275 per tonne. Inventories declined 8,775 tonnes to 1,153,875 tonnes.
- The three-month nickel price jumped $415 to $15,625 per tonne. Inventories were down 972 tonnes to 277,014 total tonnes.
- The three-month zinc price edged up $17 to $3,216 per tonne. Stocks fell 1,750 tonnes to a total of 245,150 tonnes.
- Lead’s three-month price recently settled at $2,485 per tonne, rising $10 from Tuesday’s close. Inventories dipped 125 tonnes to 132,625 tonnes.
- The three-month tin price plunged $250 to $20,875 per tonne, while inventories were unchanged at 2,500 tonnes.
Currency moves and data releases
- The dollar index was down 0.3% to 93.56.
- In other commodities, the Texas light sweet crude oil spot price was down 0.5% to $66.03 per barrel.
- In US data on Tuesday, the core consumer price index (CPI) rose marginally in May by 0.2%, better than the expected increase of 0.1%.
- For today, the US PPI gained 0.5% and crude oil inventories stood at -4.1 million barrels.