The base metals complex on the London Metal Exchange is mixed this morning, Friday February 23, with prices down by an average of 0.2%. Zinc prices lead the decline with a 0.8% fall to $3,501 per tonne, copper and nickel prices are off by 0.4% with the former at $7,143 per tonne, aluminium prices are bucking the trend with a 0.4% rise, while the rest are little changed.
Volume has returned to around average with 7,917 lots traded as of 06:56 am London time. This follows a day of recovery on Thursday when prices dropped intraday before rebounding in the afternoon, which has left underlying tails on most of the metals' candlestick charts. Gold prices are weaker this morning, with prices off 0.4% at $1,326.53 per oz, silver and platinum prices are little changed and palladium prices are up by 0.2%. This follows a day of strength on Thursday, when gold, silver and platinum closed up between 0.3% and 0.5% and palladium closed up 1.8%. On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the base metals are for the most part stronger this morning, with gains averaging 1.1%. At the extremes nickel prices are up by 2.1% and tin prices are down by 0.1%, while copper prices are up by 1.6% at 53,620 yuan ($8,448) per tonne. Spot copper prices in...