US stocks softened yesterday as the bond market softened. The dollar rose, and the US Treasury yields pushed higher, as a continued repose to the Fed’s statement last week; the 10yr yield surged to 1.47%, reflecting the market’s expectations of tighter monetary policy and a continued surge of inflation. US small business owners confidence shot up to pre-pandemic levels, supported by the uptake of vaccinations and a decline in COVID-19 cases. US manufacturers orders for business equipment strengthened in August, as bookings for all durable goods rose by 1.8% m/m.
LME prices tumbled yesterday due to risk-off sentiment and a stronger dollar. Protracted selling pressure saw tin test support at $35,000/t but settled at $35,100/t. Nickel was next in line, down over 2.2% and broke through support at $19,000/t to close at $18,946/t. The nickel cash to 3-month spread remained in backwardation and settled at $13.50/t. Aluminium failed above $2,940/t and closed at $2,883.50/t. Zinc was also muted and closed at $3,067.50/t after testing appetite at $3,120/t. Copper was the only one higher on the day, closing at $9,362/t.
Oil futures strengthened on continued expectations of a tightening market following the global supply crunch. WTI and Brent increased to $75.33/bl and $79.55/bl. Precious metals were mostly higher, with gold and silver edging up to $1,753.55/oz and $22.71/oz.
For more in-depth analysis of base and precious metals, please see our Quarterly Metals report.
All price data is from 27.09.2021 as of 17:30
