Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during morning trading on Tuesday January 8, with prices remaining stable and market sentiment broadly positive amid US-China trade talks and a continued softening in the US dollar index.
Continuing their uptrend, both copper and nickel futures consolidated higher over the morning, with the former making a continued approach towards $6,000 per tonne, a level it hasn't traded above since December 31, 2018. Nickel's strong performance last week resulted in a 5% spike in the metal's three-month price, with the metal's price action appreciating from a one-year low of $10,530 per tonne to its highest level since December 6, 2018 at $11,195 per tonne on January 7. "Although metals prices have largely defended the gains they achieved late last week, they have gained no further ground despite the weaker US dollar and benign US stock markets," Commerzbank Research said in a morning note. "From today, the two leading commodity indices, the S&P GSCI and the Bloomberg Commodity Index, will be undertaking their annual rebalancing. As far as base metals are concerned, zinc is likely to...