Base metals fell away during Tuesday afternoon London Metal Exchange (LME) floor trading, ending the open-outcry session mostly lower amid a rebound in the dollar and softening spreads, traders said.
"It's always the way - the backwardations come in a bit and then you get whipped about by the sellers," one said.
The dollar, which sagged in early-afternoon trading, subsequently recovered, and this also dampened sentiment, snuffing out the brief uptick seen after US July CPI fell 0.1 percent, against expectations of a 0.1 pct rise.
"The data was no big deal - you just get a knee-jerk reaction at the moment," the trader said.
Copper, which touched $2,860 at one stage, backtracked to end the afternoon at $2,818, down $12 a tonne from Monday's kerb.
Traders said the close was technically negative, bringing prices back towards the floor of a $2,800/2,820 to $2,860/2,890 range.
The cash/threes spread backwardation eased to $45/50 from $72 on Monday as the previous day's tight August date fell off the structure.
However, nearby tightness remained in focus, with activity intense during the early rings, when TOM/Next business (tomorrow/next day), or belated trading against Monday's "third Wednesday" prompt date, took place.
This key rate flared out at times, with business between $7 and $9 backwardation, before last trade at $3, with LME officials monitoring the session.
But some of the steam was taken out of the market on the pre-market, when the dominant long position holder was said to be making metal available at level/$1 backwardation at times.
Elsewhere, aluminium stalled around the $1,740 resistance level, steadily declining to close at $1,718, down $11.
Lead backtracked as the spread narrowed to $40/42 backwardation from $50. Last three months business was at $849, down $21.
Zinc was unable to cling on to the $1,000 level, and retreated to $989, a $12 loss.
Tin was $125 lower at $9,050, but was consolidating following Monday's run-up to two-month highs.
Nickel was the exception to the softer trend, and maintained recent steady upward momentum to close at $13,650, up $100.
Comments
Comments are closed.