U.S. equities rallied towards another record as Joe Biden chose Jerome Powell for another term as head of the Fed. With parts of Europe threatening another lockdown amid rising COVID cases, we expect U.S. equities to continue to perform well. The dollar strengthened again and trades at 96.3, bond yields rallied, and trade at 1.597%. FOMC minutes this week, along with personal income and durable goods, will help to give more of an indication of the state of the U.S. economy. Yesterday's existing home sales were 6.34m and up 0.8% M/M, suggesting the housing market is still strong.
Sentiment on the LME was positive, following a quiet Chinese session where volumes were low. Liquidity remains low, but the physical tightness continues to dictate the market. Yesterday, zinc was the big mover after Glencore shut more capacity due to high energy costs, prices settled at $3,348.5/t. Copper closed at $9,726.5/t with cash to 3s at $109/t. Aluminium consolidated recent gains and closed at $2,689/t. Nickel continued to be well supported and closed at $20,336/t with the cash to 3-month settling at $158/t.
Oil prices gained ground after the U.S., India, Japan, and South Korea have suggested releasing oil reserves into the market to cap prices; however, OPEC+ could respond with a change in strategy. Brent and WTI prices trade at $79.57/bl and $76.62/bl. Gold and silver prices suffered today, trading at $1,814.86/oz and $24.37/oz.
All price data is from 22.11.2021 as of 17:30
