SHANGHAI: Metal prices in London showed a mixed performance on Monday, reflecting investor caution with signs of progress in the US-China trade talks keeping some support in the markets. China announced exemptions on certain US imports from retaliatory tariffs as an indication that the long trade dispute is about to straighten up with the world's two most giant economies.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) had slipped 0.5% to $9,327 per metric ton early morning. While this loss reflected the ongoing hesitation of the market, it was matched by minor adjustive gains by other base metals. Aluminum and lead each grew by 0.1% to $2,430 and $1,946 a ton respectively, while zinc slipped a little by 0.07% to $2,628. Tin and nickel went both downwards, with tin falling 0.3% down to $31,870 a ton and nickel sliding down 0.2% down to $15,520.
Thus the cautious sight, as what US President Donald Trump said, about carrying on trading discussions despite the uncertainty of how those would turn out. A trader said that markets are buoyed by optimism yet remain potentially shaken by the sudden change in the mood as these discussions do not lend themselves easily to predictions.
Shanghai Futures is trading in tandem with the rest of the globe, with its most-traded copper contract falling by 0.7% to 77,110 yuan ($10,567) per ton. Other metals - aluminum, zinc, lead, tin, and nickel showed the same declining trend in the markets of China, following the wider markets concerning the slowdown of the economy.
The state's mixed metals performance shows that while lowered trade tensions provide gains, markets hang on edge as the outlook of the global economy still turns on how relations evolve in America and China.
[Source Credit: Business Recorder]
