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Informist, Friday, Sep 27, 2024

By Ashutosh Pati

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of most base metals on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India fell, tracking prices on the London Metal Exchange on account of profit-booking after a sharp rise in prices on Thursday, analysts said. 

However, the downside was restricted by a fall in inventories at warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Copper stocks fell by 24,530 tn from last week to 140,408 tn, according to exchange data. Lead stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange monitored warehouses fell by 20,225 tn from last week to 40,779 tn, and zinc inventories were down 5,456 tn at 27,460 tn, exchange data showed.

Tightening supply and higher demand ahead of China's national holiday in the first week of October also supported prices, Motilal Oswal said in a report. On Thursday, the most active October copper contract on the MCX reached a 10-week high of 862.80 rupees per kg before closing the day at 862.30 rupees per kg. 

Copper prices on the LME rallied to a three-month-high above $10,000 per tn on Thursday after Beijing called for more measures to support its property sector, which is crucial for demand for metals, and vowed to reach the country's annual economic goals, ING Economics said in a report.

Chinese leaders pledged to deploy "necessary fiscal spending" to meet this year's economic growth target of around 5%, Reuters reported.

However, aluminium prices were largely steady with an upward bias. Analysts expect aluminimum prices to rise as inventories in Shanghai Futures Exchange monitored warehouses fell by 7,324 tn from last week to 279,171 tn. "Prices are likely to get support from the uncertainty around alumina supply in China, as output issues from Guinea and Australia persists," ICICI direct said in a report. According to latest data, global alumina production was at 12.51 mln tn in August, unchanged from the previous month. 

At 1750 IST, on the MCX, the October futures contracts of:

- Aluminium was steady at 239.2 rupees per kg

- Copper was at 857.45 rupees per kg, down 0.6% 

- Lead was at 184.8 rupees per kg, down 0.4%

- Zinc was at 280.45 rupees per kg, down 0.7%

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:

- Aluminium contract seen at 237.00-243.00 rupees 

- Copper contract seen at 847.00-868.00 rupees

- Lead contract seen at 182.20-188.90 rupees

- Zinc contract seen at 278.00-284.90 rupees

End

US$1 = 83.70 rupees

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

Edited by Avishek Dutta

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