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Informist, Monday, Sep 16, 2024

By Sandeep Sinha

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of most base metals rose today on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange on the expectation of an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve at its meeting on Wednesday. The positive momentum was further aided by buying by commodity trading advisers and weakness in the dollar, which makes dollar-denominated commodities, such as base metals, cheaper for holders of other currencies.

The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was down 0.6% at 100.65.

"Supply issues remain across various metals but the key now is whether this recent pickup in demand is a flash in pan/seasonal program rather than anything more meaningful," Al Munro, strategist at London-based brokerage Marex said in a note. However, further upside in non-ferrous metals is limited because of weak economic data from China, traders said. The 70-city housing prices fell at an accelerated pace in August, with new home prices down 0.7% from a month ago and secondary market prices down by 1%, data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China showed.

ALUMINIUM prices rose, taking cues from the LME, due to a fall in stocks by 3,500-tn in exchange-reported warehouses today. The LME inventories have declined over 22% in the last three months, reaching 817,350 tn, the lowest since May. 

COPPER prices rose due to weakness in the dollar and the expectation of further policy support from China.

LEAD prices fell as traders trimmed their long positions on the domestic exchange.

ZINC contracts traded higher as market participants covered their short positions on the MCX.

At 1810 IST, on the MCX, the September futures contract of:

–Aluminium was at 232.25 rupees a kg, up 1.5%

–Copper was at 807.55 rupees a kg, up 0.7%

–Lead was at 184.95 rupees a kg, down 0.2%

–Zinc was at 269.90 rupees a kg, up 0.8%

Outlook for the evening session on the MCX:

–Aluminium contract seen at 229.00-234.50 rupees

–Copper seen at 798.00-814.00 rupees

–Lead seen at 182.00-188.00 rupees

–Zinc seen at 266.00-272.50 rupees

End

US$1 = 83.89 rupees

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Saji George Titus

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