The Bloomberg Commodity Index advanced 0.4% in early trading today as rising energy prices more than offset mixed industrial and precious metal prices. In New York, COMEX copper opened the day at $2.662 while NYMEX crude oil futures were up more than 2% as prices were “…supported by hints that OPEC and its allies may agree to deepen output cuts at a meeting this week and as rising manufacturing activity in China suggested stronger demand,” Reuters reports.
In London, FM Metal Bulletin reports “London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices were somewhat subdued during morning trading on Monday December 2 while a strong US dollar index, trading up by 0.08% at 98.35 at the same time, had a dampening effect on trading volumes. This despite the release of better-than-expected data from China this morning that showed the country’s manufacturing sector was in expansionary territory in November. China’s Caixin purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 51.8 last month, up marginally from 51.7 previously.” LME 3-mo. copper and aluminum were recently trading around $5,870/mt and $1,770/mt, respectively, while 3-mo. nickel traded as low as $13,610/mt. In foreign exchange trading, the euro was holding up around $1.1023 this morning while the British pound was little changed around $1.293.
