Hopes that a US-China trade deal may be moving a step closer have given equities and US bond yields a slight boost this morning, Wednesday July 24, but the metals have not followed.

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Thursday April 5.

While lack of progress on United States-China trade talks remains ever present, the potential removal of the logjam over Hong Kong seems to be providing some cheer across markets.

Markets remain nervous on Thursday August 29, especially since the next wave of US tariff increases on Chinese goods are set to come into effect on September 1 and the US yield curve is showing the deepest inversion since 2007, with the 30-year yield falling to a historic low on Wednesday.

With the exception of lead and tin, three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part under downward pressure over the final trading days of 2018.

South32 achieved record production from its manganese assets in its 2015 financial year, it said in its full-year earnings report.

With gold prices up at near six-year highs, markets remain nervous on Wednesday August 28 about just how much damage the United States-China trade war is doing and whether it will be reversible before it leads to a global recession.

What metal stories and price moves have been on the agenda? Metal Bulletin editor Alex Harrison reviews the week

Over in Hong Kong for LME Asia Week, the focus was on the island’s trading ties with China. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEx) ceo Charles Li said he hopes that mutual access in equities will be followed by mutual access in commodities.

Rising energy costs will be a key driver of base metals prices in the coming year, Ed Meir, senior commodity analyst at INTL FCStone told Metal Bulletin.