US stocks strengthened yesterday on the back of positive economic data. Meanwhile, the energy sector continues to rally as Europe braces for a winter energy crunch. US service PMI expanded at a faster-than-expected pace in September, driven in part by a pickup in business activity and growth in new orders. Lead times for production materials increased to the highest level in more than 30 years, as supply chain disruptions are being felt by the manufacturers. The dollar was marginally higher, and the 10yr US Treasury yield gained ground into 1.5275%. Elsewhere, UK service prices rose at a record pace in September.
Another day of positive gains on the LME, only with copper closing marginally lower at $9,174/t. Lead was supported above $2,140/t for most of the trading day to close near the lows of $2,152/t. Nickel moved lower for most of the day before finding support around $17,750/t to bounce back and close at $18,121/t; cash to 3-month spread has tightened into $11.50/t. Aluminium was seen marginally higher, closing at $2,921/t after testing resistance level around $2,930/t. Tin saw the strongest gains, closing at $35,079/t.
Oil futures continued to rise, beating 7-year highs, as OPEC kept the supply plan unchanged. WTI and Brent increased to $79.32/bl and $82.96/bl. Precious metals were mostly lower, as positive economic data strengthened the belief that the Fed will pull back the bond-buying in its next meeting. Gold and silver traded at $1,758.13/oz and $22.59/oz, respectively.
For more in-depth analysis of base and precious metals, please see our Quarterly Metals report.
All price data is from 05.10.2021 as of 17:30
