Aluminium hits 3-1/2 year low
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Aluminium touched a new 3-1/2 year low and lead fell 4.3 per cent on Tuesday ahead of US car sales data that is expected to show another grim picture of slowing demand. Reports that a second Chinese state is considering buying metals to help support prices had little effect on the market which focussed on rising London Metal Exchange inventories.
''Rising stock levels in copper and aluminium is daily evidence that demand is less than supply,'' analyst Mr David Thurtell at Citi said. ''The metals are tracking the equities market,'' he added.
Copper for delivery in three months fell $75, or 2.1 per cent, to $3,515 a tonne by 1001 GMT after slipping nearly 1 per cent on Monday. It hit a 3-1/2 year low of $3,375 on Nov. 21. Prices for the metal, used in construction and power, have slumped around 60 per cent since a record $8,940 a tonne in July.
Aluminium fell to $1,710 a tonne, after hitting a 3-1/2 year low of $1,705 from $1,735 on Monday.
Stocks of the metal - used in transport, construction and packaging - jumped 2,725 tonnes to 1.83 million tonnes, the highest level since December 1994. Lead fell to $1,065 from $1,100. In early trade it fell to $1,052 - the lowest since mid-2006 - on concerns about demand for batteries.
Tin rallied 5.7 per cent on the news on Monday, but settled lower due to the lack of concrete details about the stocks scheme. It was at $12,050 against $12,370 late on Monday. LME zinc fell $7 to $1,159 and technical analysts pegged the chances of higher prices as slim.
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Source : Business Line |
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