Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were broadly lower during morning trading on Friday June 8, with lead, nickel and copper prices edging lower.
"After copper achieved a 4 1/2 -year high of $7,350 per tonne yesterday, profit-taking ensued in late trading. Weak Asian stock markets this morning are helping drive the copper price down to a good $7,200 per tonne," Commerzbank Research noted. The red metal's recent surge was largely due to increased uncertainty surrounding labour negotiations at BHP's Escondida mine in Chile, the world's largest copper mine. Falling 1.8% during morning trading, lead's three-month price was recently back below $2,500 per tonne after spending most of June trading above the resistance level. "LME lead is still trending within an uptrend channel despite the recent setback. We continue to feel that the strong rebound since the low on May 2 has overextended itself and some profit-taking is justifiable,"...