Rising inventories and a technical selloff drove copper to a four-day low Wednesday, and aluminium to its lowest close since April 2003.
Base metals on the LME finished down. Aluminium fell $47 (3.38%) to $1,343 while copper weakened $100 (3.02%) to $3,210 and nickel dropped $425 (3.77%) to $10,850. Zinc shed $75 (6.12%) to $1,150 and lead lost $88 (7.56%) to $1,070. Comex copper was last quoted at 141.90 US cents per pound.
Gold futures closed lower on a day when the dollar firmed against the euro, but the metal was mostly sideways during an “inside day” on a daily chart. Spot gold was last quoted at $854.70. Comex gold futures slid $5.10 (0.60%) to $850.10. Spot silver was last quoted at $11.27.
West Texas Intermediate was last quoted at US$41.32 per barrel.
| Commodities |
| |
Change |
Close |
| AUD/USD |
1.80% |
$0.6623 |
| Gold Spot |
-0.26% |
$855.00 |
| Oil |
8.03% |
$44.12 |
| Zinc |
-2.06% |
$1,213.00 |
| Aluminium |
-2.84% |
$1,385.50 |
| Nickel |
-0.82% |
$10,860.00 |
| Copper |
-0.57% |
$3,301.00 |
|
The yen rose to a seven-year high against the euro and a 13 1/2-year high against the dollar Wednesday after the expiration of a large options contract.