US stocks wavered around record highs yesterday; meanwhile, European shares tumbled on the back of signs of ECB beginning the discussion around tapering of bond purchases. US consumer confidence fell to a 6-month low in August, as a heightened number of COVID-19 cases and continued price pressures dampened the economy’s outlook. Home prices in the US jumped to a 30-year high, fuelled by strong demand and a limited supply of homes. The dollar rallied in the second half of the day, erasing losses, and 10yr US Treasury yield gained ground to 1.3020%. Elsewhere, Euro area inflation shot up to 3% in August – a decade high.
Sentiment on the LME was mixed yesterday. Aluminium was the big mover, finding support above the resistance level of $2,600/t and closing at $2,718/t. Copper prices were also stronger, as an appetite for prices caused a test of resistance at $9,550/t to close at $9,520/t. Nickel opened much higher than the previous day’s close but weakened throughout the day to close at $19,547/t. Zinc fluctuated, closing marginally lower on the day at $3,003.50/t. Lead softened; the market closed at $2,256/t; the cash to 3-month spread widened out to $130.00/t, after reaching highs of $218.50/t in the last couple of weeks.
Oil futures finished the month on the back foot, as investors weighed on the prospects of the OPEC+ meeting. WTI and Brent softened into $68.90/bl and $73.05/bl. Precious metals were mixed, with gold and silver edging down to $1,807.64/oz and $23.87/oz, respectively.
For more in-depth analysis of base and precious metals, please see our Quarterly Metals report.
All price data is from 31.08.2021 as of 17:30
