Commodities markets fear events in Netherlands, France and China

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Global markets for primary commodities have been spooked by global events.

Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte tendered his government’s resignation on Monday after failing to agree an austerity package. New elections will be on the way.

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Markets also showed concern that the socialist candidate Francois Hollande was ahead of current President Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round of the presidential elections in France, with Hollande saying as part of his programme he would look to renegotiate the eurozone bailout deal in order to do more to promote growth.

Although the preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to a two month high to 49.1 in April compared to a final reading of 48.3 in March, a reading below 50 indicates contraction from the previous month, suggesting the Chinese economy continues to slow.

Three-month copper fell 1.8 per cent yesterday on the news and this morning had only picked up by 0.2 per cent to $8,057 per tonne.

Aluminium picked up by 0.4 per cent this morning after registering earlier falls to $2,066 while lead increased 0.3 per cent to $2,072.

At 10:40 this morning, the S&P GSCI index of 24 commodities had fallen 0.6 per cent.

WTI Crude oil was down 74 cents to $103.14, while Brent Crude remained around the $119 level.