US stocks retreated from record highs on their first day back from the Labour Day holiday. The dollar rallied, and the 10yr US Treasury yield gained ground into 1.3647% - the July highs. European stocks slipped as investors assessed the possibility of a rollback of stimulus support from the ECB this week. The euro area grew by 2.2% during the second quarter, above estimates, supported majorly by a surge in consumer spending. On the other hand, with the recent spread of the delta variant in Europe, German investor confidence declined for the fourth straight month in September. Elsewhere, Chinese export growth surged unexpectedly in August despite the port disruptions we saw during the month, easing the concerns surrounding the supply chain bottlenecks.
Base metals softened on the LME market yesterday, apart from zinc, which closed higher on the day at $3,044/t. Tin sold off yesterday, losing as much as 3.63% in the second half of the day, closing at $32,093/t. Copper prices were weaker, after finding support around $9,300/t level before closing higher at $9,350.50/t. Nickel lost ground, after testing the resistance level at $19,739/t; the metal closed at $19,506/t; cash to 3-month spread widened out to $14.00/t. Aluminium was more range-bound but still weaker on the day, closing at $2,757/t.
Oil futures slipped on the back of a stronger dollar, despite seeing a boost from positive Chinese data on the day. WTI and Brent softened into $68.06/bl and $71.52/bl. Precious metals continued their decline as the dollar, and the yields pushed higher, with gold and silver, in particular, edging down to $1,796.34/oz and $24.33/oz, respectively.
For more in-depth analysis of base and precious metals, please see our Quarterly Metals report.
All price data is from 07.09.2021 as of 17:30
