US financial markets, including stocks and bonds, are closed today for Independence Day; however, coronavirus-related cases in the country are on the rise and some states continue to impose partial lockdowns to prevent the spread. The dollar was unchanged. European stocks were down, as ECB’s emergency bond-purchasing programme, the key crisis-fighting tool, became the cause for disagreement within the bloc on how it should be weighted toward weaker countries. In the UK, IHS Markit Services data showed improvement in June, up to 47.1, from a record slump of 29.0 a month before.
Activity on the LME was mixed today with only lead and nickel closing higher on the day. Nickel continues to be well bid; however, failed above $13,100/t and closed at $12,996/t. Lead was slightly firmer and managed to close just off the day’s highs of $1,785/t at $1,780/t. Copper and aluminium prices were subject to strong selling pressure, closing on the back foot at $6,017/t and $1,614/t respectively. Zinc prices were also weaker, breaking below the support at $2,040/t and closing at $2,026/t; cash to 3-month spread softened into -$11.00/t.
Oil futures lost some ground today as prevailing fears of subdued demand persist despite promises of tighter supply from OPEC. At the time of writing, WTI and Brent trade at $40.26/bl and $42.82/bl. Silver gained, and gold remained range-bound, trading at $18.04/oz $1,775.30/oz respectively.
