Stocks fell on Monday after the Fed’s St. Louis President’s hawkish remarks; growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine add volatility to market moves. As a result, 10yr US Treasury yield leapt higher as investors fled to safety and the dollar gained ground. US consumer sentiment fell to a decade low in February as persistent inflation concerns dampen consumer outlook. US PPI is out tomorrow and is forecast to grow by 9.1% in January vs 9.7% in December.
Metals prices came under pressure in the morning but have managed to catch a bid this afternoon. Protracted buying pressure caused aluminium to break through $3,200/t but failed at $3,240/t, closing at $3,214.50/t. The cash to 3-month spread is backwardated at $16/t, and inventories for aluminium declined 6,300 tonnes today. Zinc closed on the lows was sold through support at $3,600/t and closed at $3,574.50/t. Copper was bid on the close and has recovered back above $9,900/t to close at $9,920/t, with the cash to 3-month spread at $50/t last. Nickel struggled above $23,500/t and closed at $23,267/t.
Oil wavered on the Ukraine tensions, with WTI and Brent trading at $93.48/bl and $94.59/bl. Precious metals were also mostly range-bound; gold and silver traded at $1,862.80/bl and $23.76/bl, respectively.
For more in-depth analysis of base and precious metals, please see our Quarterly Metals report.
All price data is from 14.02.2022 as of 17:30
