Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during morning trading on Thursday January 3, with the moderate strength in the US dollar index against a backdrop of low LME stocks keeping trading ranges narrow.
Despite a decade-low in LME inventory, zinc's three-month price continues face persistent downward pressure and is trading below its nearby $2,400-per-tonne threshold. The metal's futures price is down over 9% from last month's high of $2,643.50 per tonne achieved on December 7. Similarly, lead's three-month price continues to lose support despite trading at its highest level since October 2018 last week at a December high of $2,060 per tonne, while the metal has since dropped 5.7% and is trading near $1,950 per tonne.In nickel, a brief rally earlier this week resulted in the metal's three-month price climbing from its lowest level since December 2017 at $10,630 per tonne on December 31, to its current level above $10,800 per tonne. "Sentiment remains poor following the weak China PMI release yesterday and Apple cutting its revenue outlook for...