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Informist, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026

 

By Ashutosh Pati

 

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of copper and aluminium rose on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Friday because of a sharp fall in the rupee against the dollar. However, the rise in copper prices was limited by rising inventories across global exchanges and weak demand.

 

COPPER prices on the London Metal Exchange are heading for a fourth straight weekly decline. Prices of the red metal are headed for a third week of decline on the domestic bourse.

 

The rupee ended near a three-week low of 90.9825 against the dollar Friday. When the rupee depreciates against the dollar, prices of base metals in the domestic market adjust as these are priced in rupees.

 

Copper inventories at warehouses registered with the LME have risen to an 11-month high, with combined inventories across London, Shanghai, and New York exceeding 1 million tonnes, Kotak Securities said in a report. "The build-up suggests elevated prices are weighing on physical offtake," it said.

 

With Chinese markets closed for the Lunar New Year holidays, trading volumes remain thin. Attention will shift to demand signals once the top consumer's markets reopen next week, the brokerage said.

 

"Copper is consolidating after a two-month surge, driven by speculative buying," Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ Research, said in a note. "Since then, economic data in China, the world's largest consumer has been relatively lacklustre. Rising inventory is creating concern."

 

At 1754 IST, on the MCX, the February futures contract of:

--ALUMINIUM was at INR 307.15 a kg, up 0.3%
--Copper was at INR 1,165.15 a kg, up 0.4%
–-LEAD was steady at INR 188.80 a kg
–-ZINC was at INR 324.15 a kg, up 0.1%

 

The March futures contract of NICKEL was steady at INR 1,553.00 a kg

 

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 299.70-INR 314.60

--Copper contract seen at INR 1,117.20-INR 1,224.50
--Lead contract seen at INR 185.30-INR 190.80

--Zinc contract seen at INR 317.10-INR 331.60

--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,530.00-INR 1,580.00

 

End

 

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

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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