India Base Metals: Most up on firm LME cues, tight supply

Informist, Monday, Jan 10, 2022

By Sandeep Sinha

MUMBAI – Most base metals on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India traded higher today, tracking gains on the London Metal Exchange amid firm equity markets, supply disruptions and lower stockpiles.

* Sentiment was further buoyed after Beijing reiterated the need to pay more attention to stabilising growth which raised hope of policy easing, said Motilal Oswal in a report.

* Russia said it would not make any concessions under US pressure at talks this week on the Ukraine crisis, and its demands for western security boosted riskier assets.

* However, rising cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 globally and strength in the dollar index capped the upside in metal prices. A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities expensive for foreign holders.

* ALUMINIUM contracts soared as higher energy prices led European smelters to announce further production cuts. LME aluminium stockpiles have plunged to a 16-year low with only 540,000 tn of the commodity available for the market.

* NICKEL contracts rose to the highest level in two months due to robust demand from the electric vehicle battery sector and a decline in LME-monitored warehouse stocks.

* At 1800 IST, on the MCX, the January futures contract of

 —ALUMINIUM was at 232.45 rupees a kg, up 0.7%

 —COPPER was at 739.25 rupees a kg, down 0.2% 

 —LEAD was at 186.50 rupees a kg, up 0.1%

 —NICKEL was at 1,575.20 rupees a kg, up 0.5%

 —ZINC was at 288.75 rupees a kg, up 0.3%

* Outlook for the evening session on MCX:

 –Aluminium contract seen at 229.00-237.50 rupees per kg

 –Copper contract seen at 732.00-748.00 rupees per kg

 –Lead contract seen at 183.80-190.00 rupees per kg

 –Nickel contract seen at 1,550.00-1,596.00 rupees per kg

 –Zinc contract seen at 257.00–293.00 rupees per kg

End

US$1 = 74.04 rupees

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

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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Source: Cogencis