Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Wednesday January 2, under pressure from upward momentum in the United States dollar index although a marginal downturn in US equity markets hindered buying sentiment.
In afternoon trading, the three-month price of lead fell by more than 3% to reach an intraday low of $1,942 per tonne. It had spent most of December 2018 trading close to the support level of $2,000 per tonne.Similarly, zinc futures went down by around 2.5% during the afternoon, but closed above $2,400 per tonne after falling to their lowest level since September 2018 in the morning session.Record-low stocks of LME inventory continue to drive bouts of positive price action, but despite decade-low stock levels in on-warrant copper, zinc and lead, all three metals were subject to downward price pressure.Meanwhile, copper's 2% drop over the afternoon similarly resulted in the metal's three-month...