The major commodity indexes started the week in negative territory as softer energy, precious and industrial metal prices were partially offset by rising agriculture futures.
In London, LME 3-mo. copper and aluminum dipped to around $6,370/mt and $1,830/mt, respectively, while LME 3-mo. nickel traded as low as $12,380/mt (=$5.62/lb.) this morning. Reporting from LME Asia Week 2019, Metal Bulletin notes that “Nickel prices face considerable downside pressure from increasing supply of two nickel-containing stainless steel raw materials – nickel pig iron (NPI) and nickel plate – as well as an abundance of stainless steel stocks in China.” In New York, most-actively traded COMEX copper futures eased to $2.88/lb. in morning trading after having lost ground over the course of last week. NYMEX crude oil futures slipped to around $63 per barrel this morning following last week’s rally. Reuters reports “oil prices fell on Monday, extending the Friday decline that halted a weeks-long rally, after President Donald Trump demanded that producer club OPEC raise output to soften the impact of U.S. sanctions against Iran.” In foreign exchange trading, dollar appreciation was on hold this morning with the euro trading around $1.115 and the British pound little changed at $1.292 ahead of policy announcements this week by the Federal Reserve and Bank of England.
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