Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Tuesday January 8, with prices generally pushing higher amid positive risk sentiment against US-China trade talks, stronger global equity markets and a softer US dollar index.
Climbing furthest over the afternoon, the three-month tin price climbed to its highest level since July 31, closing just short of $20,000 per tonne and climbing 1.2% and gaining $255 per tonne on just 345 lots traded. Continued export delays out of Indonesia, tin's second largest global exporter, have resulted in a gradual climb for the metal's outright price, yet some participants in the physical tin market believe the move is in line with positive macroeconomic sentiment. Additionally, falling LME tin inventories have further supported upward price action, with total on-warrant material now sitting just above 1,000 tonnes. "I think the move [in the LME tin price] is more of a general move with the complex, and not fundamental as of yet. I don't think we should read into it too much," a Europe-based tin trader told Fastmarkets. Meanwhile, nickel futures also continued to trade higher over the afternoon, breaching $11,200 per tonne and...