Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly trending upward during the afternoon session on Tuesday September 1, rallying on better data for the China purchasing managers' index (PMI) and a weak US dollar.
The base-metals complex continued its recent macro-following trend on Tuesday, rising on hopes of greater Chinese demand with the region's manufacturing figures going up, generating high trading volumes across the majority of the complex.Chinese Caixin manufacturing PMI data remained in expansion range, strengthening by just three percentage points to 53.1 in August from 52.8 the month before.And a weaker US dollar index provided another adequate tailwind for LME three-month base metals prices, spurring consumption, with the US dollar index trading down by 0.11% at $91.19 during the afternoon session.But some analysts remained skeptical about whether the recent rallies in LME three-month base metals prices were sustainable against a broadly weak fundamental backdrop, with suggestions that...