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Informist, Thursday, Mar. 6, 2025

By Ashutosh Pati

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of all base metals on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India rose, tracking a rise in contracts on the London Metal Exchange because of a weaker dollar. Market sentiment was also lifted by hope of fresh stimulus measures at China's National People's Congress meeting, analysts said.

China set its GDP growth target for 2025 at around 5%, the same as last year. The country will increase the intensity of fiscal spending and adopt more proactive, sustainable, robust, and effective fiscal policies in 2025. China is the largest producer and consumer of non-ferrous metals, and growth in its economy can boost demand for metals.

"The unchanged growth target reflects that the authorities are confident about the domestic outlook. However, expectations rose that the government will be required to implement more stimulus measures to meet the target," Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ Research, said in a note.

At 1536 IST, the Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.2% at 104.11. A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities such as base metals cheaper for buyers holding other currencies, aiding demand.

A fall in inventories at warehouses registered with the LME also supported prices. ALUMINIUM inventories fell by 4,275 tonnes to 515,600 tonnes and COPPER inventories fell by 975 tonnes to 259,175 tonnes. LEAD stocks fell by 1,075 tonnes to 207,325 tonnes and ZINC inventories fell by 375 tonnes to 160,950 tonnes.

For further cues, market participants await the European Central Bank's moentary policy decision, due later in the day.

The global aluminium market is expected to be in a deficit of 600,000 tonnes this year, as slowing supply growth clashes against stronger-than-expected demand, particularly in China, Dow Jones quoted analysts at JP Morgan as saying.

At 1548 IST, on the MCX, the March futures contract of:

–Aluminium was at INR 263.40 a kg, up 0.8%

–Copper was at INR 882.50 a kg, up 0.3%

–Lead was at INR 181.45 a kg, up 0.1% 

–Zinc was at INR 274.60 a kg, up 1.1%

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:

-Aluminium contract seen at INR 259.70-INR 267.30

-Copper contract seen at INR 870.00-INR 898.00

-Lead contract seen at INR 180.10-INR 182.60

-Zinc contract seen at INR 268.90-INR 277.90

End

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

Edited by Avishek Dutta

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