Industrial metals barely moved on Tuesday as investors were cautious about demand for metals amid a lack of progress in the prolonged U.S.-China trade war and weak manufacturing data from the world’s top economies.
Weak manufacturing data in China, the United States and the euro zone, as well as U.S. planned tariffs for goods from Mexico and an unresolved trade war between Beijing and Washington have been clouding investors’ sentiment in the past weeks.
“Markets do not like uncertainty and unrest and that is precisely what they are being served up at the moment,” said Malcolm Freeman of Kingdom Futures in a note.
FUNDAMENTALS
- Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange edged up 0.1% to $5,849 a tonne by 0720 GMT, while the most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.2% to 46,270 yuan ($6,699.19) a tonne.
- London aluminium eased 0.1%, nickel was almost unchanged, zinc edged up 0.3% and lead rose 0.2%. Shanghai aluminium declined 0.8%, nickel fell 1.2% and zinc also slipped 1.2%.
- CLEAN TEQ: Australian mine developer Clean Teq said it was looking for partners for its nickel, cobalt and scandium project in central New South Wales, amid a boom in demand for battery metals.
- ALUMINIUM: Top aluminium producers have offered Japanese buyers premiums of $115-$120 a tonne for July-September primary metal shipments, up 10%-14% from the current quarter, amid tighter supply, sources told Reuters on Monday.
- TIN: LME tin stockpiles MSNSTX-TOTAL rose to their highest since November as of Friday at 3,185 tonnes, latest data showed. London tin prices eased 0.4% to $19,075 a tonne.