Under the cloud of the continuing US/China trade dispute, which has no end in sight and is weighing on global economic activity, market sentiment is subdued. But numerous events are buffeting prices - with nickel supported by short-covering and fresh buying against concerns about present and future supplies, while copper mine supplies may be affected by strikes at ports in Peru. Zinc and tin, remain weak, with increased zinc supplies and poor demand from the automotive and semiconductor industries affecting zinc and tin respectively.
Equities are consolidating this morning in Asia, but generally have a dilemma: should they be buoyant due to easier monetary policy, or concerned by state of global economy?Some investors are hedging their bets by buying into gold, the yen and government bonds Base metals On the London Metal Exchange, three-month base metals prices were mixed this morning, Monday August 12. Nickel was down 2.6% at $15,250 per tonne, after last Thursday's high of $16,690, but with an average price of $12,313 in the second quarter. We said in Thursday's Morning View report that the run up "looks like a blow-off top as stops were hit" and that seems to be the case, but with pockets of buying into the correction, there may be more short-covering to be done. Copper prices were recently quoted at $5,762.50 per tonne, so were continuing...