Ahead of a crucial vote by the German parliament this morning on the Euro bailout, metal markets were nervous.
In early trading in Asia today, copper dropped as low as $6,821 (£4,401) although it rebounded later to $7,010 (£4,523).
At around 11am this morning, the German parliament will vote on whether to extend the powers of the European Financial Stability Facility. Markets expect that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will manage to win the vote, but there could be a cost to her increasingly creaky coalition government.
There was also poor economic news from the United States, where there was an unexpected 0.1 per cent fall in August durable goods orders, showing manufacturers continue to struggle. Economists expected a 0.2 per cent rise.
On the LME yesterday, the official price for three month copper was $7,445 (£4,757) down from Tuesday’s $7,539 (£4,825).
Aluminium was up to $2,243 (£1,433) yesterday up from $2,231 (£1,428) a day earlier. Aluminium alloy was down to $2,205 (£1,409) from Tuesday’s $2,240 (£1,434).
Lead was up to $2,010 (£1,284) from Tuesday’s $1,981 (£1,268). Nickel was down on Wednesday to $18,630 (£11,903) from $18,725 (£11,985) a day earlier.
Tin was down on Wednesday to $21,150 (£13,514) from $21,695 (£13,886) the day before. Zinc edged up to $1,940 (£1,240) from $1,934 (£1,238) a day earlier.
Steel dropped to $545 (£348) from Tuesday’s $550 (£352).
