Zinc was the busiest contract by the end of Tuesday's open-outcry trading on the London Metal Exchange (LME), closing slightly lower after a turbulent day, traders and analysts said.
"We've seen plenty of fund activity in zinc today. It's been the most heavily traded on LME Select," a trader said.
Three-month zinc fell from a six-month high of $1,142 a tonne reached in early trade, to close $5.50 lower at $1,122.
"There has clearly been a return to favourable sentiment generally towards base metals. There has been a very limited number of massive funds getting in and that became a snowball effect," SG Corporate and Investment Banking Stephen Briggs analyst said.
The trader said zinc could continue to rally once it had digested its recent moves.
"I don't think it's the end of the story for zinc. The funds won't be stopping out just yet, the trader said.
"Zinc's situation is mixed, some funds are short and others long. I think we saw a bit of profit-taking at the end," Calyon analyst Maqsood Ahmed said.
Lead followed zinc higher but managed to fend off the weakness exhibited by the latter in the kerb.
"I think lead was tracking zinc up but its fundamentals are so much better, which could be why it hasn't come off as much," the trader said.
The metal rose $19 to $925 having hit $941.50, tantalisingly close to its contract high.
Other metals saw less interest.
"Volumes in the other metals have been pretty poor," the trader said. Copper slipped to $2,979 from $2,983.50.
The metal has been digesting last week's rally, with analysts looking for further strength in the future.
Aluminium rose $10 to $1,833.
"If you look at the open interest you can see a huge rise in aluminium buying last week, but that's lost momentum," Ahmed said.
"Positions are still being bought up, but I couldn't tell you why. We are getting close to the speculative peak we hit earlier this year," he said.
"The ultimate test will be how the funds get out of this with a profit," Ahmed added.
Nickel notched a modest $25 gain, rising to $15,600, while tin dropped $100 to $9,050.
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