Some hesitation in the base metals prices on Thursday was short-lived, with all the prices up this morning on Friday July 31 by an average of 0.5%, with stronger economic data out in Asia, earlier in the day, which boosted sentiment.
China's manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) for July climbed to 51.1 from 50.9 in June. Japan's preliminary industrial production climbed 2.7% in June, after an 8.9% decline in May. President Donald Trump's comments about whether the United States' presidential election should be postponed has helped underpin gold. Base metals The London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices were up across the board this morning, led by a 1.1% gain in tin to $17,980 per tonne, while copper was up by 0.4% at $6,484.50 per tonne. Copper has lost the most upward momentum while it has been oscillating sideways since July 14. The most-traded base metals contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed but generally little changed. The outliers were October tin,...