US stock performance reversed on disappointing corporate earnings results released today. The Fed meeting is due next week, and the policymakers are expected to start lifting rates in March. On the other hand, in Europe, Lagarde continues to reinforce the position that the ECB will not be withdrawing stimulus at the same rate as the US, as the inflation criteria are not yet satisfied. The dollar softened, and the US 10yr Treasury yield declined for the third day. UK retail sales underperformed in December, falling by 3.7% m/m, the biggest decline since January 2021, when the economy was under tough lockdown restrictions.
Metals sentiment was mixed today as nickel, tin, and lead rallied, but zinc copper and aluminium were weaker. The cash to 3-month spread for nickel stands at $281/t back, but the spread is weaker than yesterday. Nickel broke above $24,00/t and tested $24,340/t as the squeeze continues to close at $24,028/t. Tin is still rallying and closed at $43,955/t. Aluminium weakened but struggled to break support at $3,000/t, closing at $3,040.50/t. Likewise, copper was seen marginally lower, closing at $9,941/t.
Today, oil futures were lower as markets digested the news of an unexpected rick up in crude stockpiles. The White House stated it could accelerate the release of strategic reserves. WTI and Brent were at $84.91/bl and $87.59/bl. Precious metals were mostly on the back foot, with gold and silver falling to $1,833.52/oz and $24.32/oz, respectively.
For more in-depth analysis of base and precious metals, please see our Quarterly Metals report.
All price data is from 21.01.2022 as of 17:30
