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Informist, Thursday, May 21, 2026

 

By Ashutosh Pati

 

MUMBAI - Futures contracts of copper fell on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Thursday, tracking a fall in contracts on the London Metal Exchange because of a rise in the dollar. Market sentiment was also hurt by expectations of a rate hike after the minutes of the US Federal Open Market Committee's April meeting showed hawkish remarks from officials.

 

However, the fall in COPPER prices was limited as supply concerns persist, with Chile's state copper commission, Cochilco, forecasting the nation's output to fall 2% this year to 5.3 million tonnes.

 

ALUMINIUM prices rose amid supply concerns arising from the war in West Asia, a region that accounts for around 9% of global output. Global production of primary aluminium fell by over 5% month-to-month to 5.92 million tonnes in April, according to data from the International Aluminium Institute. On a year-on-year basis, production declined by over 2%.

 

NICKEL prices continued to rise for the third consecutive day following reports that 10-15% of high-grade nickel pig iron capacity at the Weda Bay Industrial Park in Indonesia will be under maintenance in the coming months.

 

At 2023 IST, on the MCX, the May futures contract of:

--Aluminium was at INR 388.50 a kg, up 0.6%
--Copper was at INR 1,340.25 a kg, down 0.9%
–-LEAD was at INR 203.10 a kg, up 0.5%
–-ZINC was at INR 367.35 a kg, down 0.8%

 

The June futures contract of nickel was at INR 1,825.40 a kg, up 0.3%

 

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 385.00-INR 393.00

--Copper contract seen at INR 1,330.00-INR 1,350.00
--Lead contract seen at INR 201.00-INR 205.00

--Zinc contract seen at INR 365.00-INR 371.00

--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,780.00-INR 1,860.00

End

 

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

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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