Broad markets were weaker this morning, Thursday May 21, this after strong gains in recent days on high hopes that the recovery will gain momentum while economies move out of lockdowns and with ultra-loose monetary policy adding fuel.
The danger is that some countries are relaxing lockdowns for economic reasons even though the Covid-19 virus is not under control, and that runs the risk of the virus scything through their economies in a second wave that could further hit global demand and supply and overwhelm health services. Asian-Pacific equity indices are showing weakness this morning, this despite Wednesday's 1.52% gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.Pre-market major western equity indices are weaker too this morning, showing losses of between 0.65-0.95%.Base metals Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed this morning; aluminium and zinc were down by 0.1% and 0.9% respectively, while the rest were split between being little changed as in the case of copper, that was up by $2 per tonne at $5,447 per tonne compared with Wednesday's close, and...