US stocks opened lower on the day and remained at subdued levels after a slew of comments from the Fed policymakers reaffirmed the central bank’s resolve to keep the monetary policy conditions tight, easing the market’s expectation of a pivot, at least in the near term. In particular, St. Louis Fed President Bullard flagged that interest rate rises had further momentum to go and might increase into the 5-5.25% range. US initial jobless claims fell to 222k in the week ending November 12th, once again coming in below expectations. The dollar jumped back above 107, and the 10yr US Treasury yield edged higher. Elsewhere, the ECB policymakers are said to be considering a smaller 50bps hike next month, stating their concerns for the euro. Meanwhile, the pound dropped slightly to 1.17 after Chancellor Hunt outlined a £55bn package of tax rises and spending cuts.
Risk-off sentiment prevailed today across the base metal’s complex, with all metals closing lower on the day. Tightness is also seen easing across the board, with the cash to 3-month spreads for aluminium and copper falling further into contango; both are currently trading at -$29.50/t and -$40.00/t, respectively, the lows not since in more than five months. The metals closed slightly lower at $2,391/t and $8,110/t, respectively. Nickel continued to weaken sharply, with another day of declines above 7%, as the metal fell below the $26,000.t support to close at $25,064/t; volumes are also seen lower in recent days. Lead and zinc closed lower at $2,150.50/t and $2,987/t.
Oil futures have also suffered from poor demand sentiment, with WTI and Brent falling to $82/bl and $90/bl. Gold and silver weakened to $1,755/oz and $20.80/oz, respectively.
All price data is from 17.11.2022 as of 17:30
