Client Portal
  1. Metals Outlook
  2. Daily Base Metals Report

Daily Base Metals Report

Read disclaimer

Back to reports

Authors
Daria Efanova

Daria Efanova Head of Research

Viktoria Kuszak

Viktoria Kuszak Research Associate

Contact research Contact Industrial Commodities

US stocks opened higher today following the release of the December preliminary PMI data. While the US Manufacturing PMI continued to weaken, falling further into contraction territory with a reading of 48.3 compared to 49.7 in November, the Services PMI exceeded expectations, rising from 54.9 to 56.6. This divergence highlights resilience in the service sector, even as manufacturing struggles. The Fed’s widely anticipated 25bps rate cut on Wednesday is already fully priced into markets. Across the Atlantic, a similar trend emerged. Both Eurozone and UK manufacturing PMIs came in slightly below expectations, while services showed strength. The Eurozone’s composite PMI edged closer to expansion, rising to 49.5 from 48.3 in November, while the UK’s composite PMI held steady at 50.5, just above the neutral 50-point mark. Despite the UK’s weakening growth trajectory, persistently high inflation is expected to keep the BoE on hold at its meeting on Thursday. Further east, Japan’s economy showed some improvement in December, with both Manufacturing and Services PMIs posting gains. The composite reading rose from 50.5 to 51.4, indicating moderate growth. The BoJ is also expected to maintain its current policy stance at Thursday’s meeting. In the currency and bond markets, the dollar index extended its gains, hovering just below the 107 level. Meanwhile, the 10-year US Treasury yield held steady at 4.38%.

Despite a weaker Chinese retail sales print, pointing to a continued softness in the real economy. Instead, mean-reversion strategies remained in place, prompting prices to remain within range. Copper remained slightly above the $9,050/t level at $9,062.50/t. Aluminium weakened below $2,600/t but failed to breach below the robust support of $2,560/t. Lead and zinc edged slightly lower to $2,000.50/t and $3,056/t. 

Precious metals saw little movement. Gold remained largely unchanged at $2,655/oz, while silver held steady at $30.6/oz. Oil prices maintained their strength after Friday’s rally, with WTI trading at $70.90/bbl and Brent crude at $74.10/bbl.

 Lme Metals Price And Volume 16122024

All price data is from 16.12.2024 as of 17:30

Disclaimer

This is a marketing communication. The information in this report is provided solely for informational purposes and should not be regarded as a recommendation to buy, sell or otherwise deal in any particular investment. Please be aware that, where any views have been expressed in this report, the author of this report may have had many, varied views over the past 12 months, including contrary views.

A large number of views are being generated at all times and these may change quickly. Any valuations or underlying assumptions made are solely based upon the author’s market knowledge and experience.

Please contact the author should you require a copy of any previous reports for comparative purposes. Furthermore, the information in this report has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research. All information in this report is obtained from sources believed to be reliable and we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy.

This report is not subject to any prohibition on dealing ahead of the dissemination of investment research. Accordingly, the information may have been acted upon by us for our own purposes and has not been procured for the exclusive benefit of customers. Sucden Financial believes that the information contained within this report is already in the public domain. Private customers should not invest in these products unless they are satisfied that the products are suitable for them and they have sought professional advice. Please read our full risk warnings and disclaimers.

Sign up to get the latest market insights

We will email you each time a new report has been published.

Subscribe

Select all the reports you wish to sign up for and submit your details below

Thank you for subscribing.

You should receive a confirmation email shortly. Please check your spam /junk mail folder if not received within a few minutes.

Do not forget to click the link in the confirmation message, otherwise, you will not receive any of our future emails.

This field is required
This field is required
This field is required
This field is required

Please note that we cannot email subscribers in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, except for journalists.

(Please note that we cannot email subscribers in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, except for journalists.)
You must agree to our terms and conditions before submitting the form
* Mandatory fields