Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during morning trading on Thursday October 25, with bearish third-quarter earnings reports prompting sharp sell-offs in the Asian and European equity markets, while global trade tensions deter commodity investment.
Edging lower over the morning, the three-month copper price is trading below $6,200 per tonne, while total available LME stocks are at their lowest level since 2005 at 72,625 tonnes. High copper volumes have traded on the exchange this morning, with 8,860 lots changing hands as of 10:20am London time, which is more than double the amount of nickel traded at 4,102 lots.Key producer Antofagasta's increased production could temper the metal's volatile price action with prices continuing to trade in a $300-per-tonne range in October, upward of the $6,000-per-tonne support level. "Yesterday's sharp sell-off in US equities spurred a decline in Asian stock markets overnight with the Nikkei down 3.7% and Hang Seng down 1%," Marex Spectron's LME analyst...