Expectation of steady US growth helps keep metal prices up

0
75

US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has said he expects gradual growth in the country, and this helped metal prices.

In a statement following its policy-setting meeting,  Bernanke said: “While we expect that economic activity and labour market conditions will improve gradually over time, the pace of progress is likely to be frustratingly slow.

Advertisement

“Moreover, there are significant downside risks to the economic outlook, most notably concerns about European fiscal and banking issues that have contributed to strains in global financial markets, which have likely had adverse effects on confidence and growth.”

As well as macro-economic matters, the fundamentals of metals are being looked at again by traders. Copper still has strong demand from the Chinese, but this demand isn’t translating into other metals.

Three-month copper jumped back up to $7,925 (£4,950) yesterday from Monday’s $7,650 (£4,807).

Aluminium was up a touch to $2,124 (£1,237) on Tuesday from $2,121 (£1,333) on Monday. Alloy was unchanged at $2,055, but the sterling value was down to £1,284 from £1,291.

Lead was down to $1,997 (£1,247) from $2,018 (£1,268) on Monday. Nickel was up a touch to $18,675 from Monday’s $18,625 but dropped in sterling value to £11,665 from £11,704 the day before.

Tin was lower at $21,600 (£13,492) on Tuesday from $21,625 (£13,589) the day before. Zinc increased to $1,921 (£1,200) from $1,906 (£1,198).

Steel was down to $525 (£328) from $532 (£334) the day before.