The London Metal Exchange base metals prices had a mixed reaction to the dollar index's second daily increase in the morning of Wednesday February 17, with the metals that set new highs on Tuesday - copper and nickel - edging lower while the rest were higher.
The dollar index increased to 90.73 at 9am on Wednesday from its reading of 90.55 on Tuesday at the close, with the rise being even more stark from Tuesday morning's 90.24. This was fueled by the rising 10-year and 30-year yield curves on US Treasury notes, which rose to 1.285% and 2.089% respectively on Tuesday. This attracted dip-buying interest in the dollar off its February low of 90.11 and took the index to as high as 90.77 on Wednesday morning. "A rising yield suggests the US economy is coming out of the global health pandemic...