Copper, zinc lead as LME metals extend rebound gains

Copper and zinc led in metals extension of rebound gains as three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) were for the most part in positive territory on Tuesday.

Copper was up 0.2 percent at $6,082 per tonne, zinc 0.7 percent at $2,545 per tonne and nickel prices bucking the trend with a 0.2 percent decline.

The general firmness follows a firmer performance last Friday that saw the complex close up by an average of 1.1 percent, with only tin ending the day in negative territory.

Volume was above average with 8,473 lots traded.

Precious metals prices were up across the board with gains averaging 1.1 percent, led by a 2.3 percent rise in platinum prices, while spot gold prices were up by 0.4 percent at $1,210.10 per tonne.

In China, base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed with the October contracts for copper and aluminium down by 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent respectively, while the rest of the base metals were showing gains of between 0.1 percent and 0.5 percent.

The most actively traded October copper contract was recently quoted at 48,570 yuan ($7,123) per tonne.

Spot copper prices in Changjiang were down by 0.4 percent at 48,520-48,670 yuan per tonne and the LME/Shanghai copper arbitrage ratio was weaker at 7.99 after 8.09 last Friday.

In other metals in China, the January iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was down by 0.7 percent at 481 yuan per tonne. On the SHFE, the January steel rebar contract was down by 0.6 percent, while the December gold and silver contracts were up by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent respectively.

In wider markets, spot Brent crude oil prices were up by 0.68 percent at $76.11 per barrel. The yield on US 10-year treasuries was weaker at 2.8464 percent, while the German 10-year bund yield at 0.3700 percent was firmer.