China's ferrous futures increased in the morning trading session on Thursday October 11.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange January rebar: 4,026 yuan ($581) per tonne, up 54 yuan per tonneJanuary hot-rolled coil: 3,884yuan per tonne, up 37 yuan per tonneDalian Commodity Exchange January iron ore: 513 yuan per tonne, up 7 yuan per tonneJanuary coking coal: 1,364 yuan...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were flat on Thursday October 11, with demand remaining tepid.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,540-4,580 yuan ($656-661) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 4,340-4,370 yuan per tonne, unchangedBillet prices were flat and futures increased a mere 1 yuan per tonne, causing spot market traders to maintain their prices.Trading activity remain...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday October 11.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly lower during Asian morning trading on Thursday October 11 amid concerns over the global macro-economic environment and dollar strength.Check Fastmarket MB's live futures report here. The price of silicon...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia remained relatively steady over the past week amid sluggish trading as a result of China's National Day holiday, while participants observed Chinese offers edging up and Taiwanese offers on a downtrend.Fastmarkets MB's assessment of import prices for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil was $2,100-2,160 per tonne cif East Asian ports f...Read More
China's domestic stainless steel prices rose in the first three days of this week following higher nickel prices. Fastmarkets MB's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 15,800-16,100 yuan ($2,282-2,325) per tonne including VAT for the week ended Wednesday October 10, up 200 yuan per...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday October 10 pricing session in Asia.Key drivers: - Cheaper offers from the Middle East and Russia pushed Chinese exporters to lower their prices. - Japanese buyers lowered their purchasing prices as they can get cheaper material from other...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 29 points in pre-opening trade. U.S. bank stocks generally moved higher following release of third quarter results this morning. JP Morgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo moved higher after releasing strong third quarter earnings. Microsoft gained $3.14 to $109.05 after Macquarie upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutra...Read More
Over the last few days, we have seen market sentiment shift from an overall bullish demeanor in regard to U.S. equities to a bearish outlook. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has now lost over 5% in trading since Wednesday, with a net decline of over 1,300 points in just two days of trading. Following yesterday????s decline of over 800 points in the Dow, today traders continued their liquidation s...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold bulls today got a quadruple dose of bullish fuel that boosted prices to nine-week highs and above the recent sideways trading range. Today’s surprising gains in gold set the table for sideways-to-higher price action at least into the end of the year. December gold futures were last up $32.70 an ounce at $1,226.20. December Comex silver was last up $0.269 at $14.60 an oun...Read More
(Kitco News) - With this overdue gold rally finally setting in and gold prices at six-week highs, analysts are anxiously eyeing the next key resistance level in hopes of seeing a sustainable move up.Following global equity sell-off and weaker-than-expected U.S. inflation data, gold finally saw the strength that was sorely missing these past six months.December Comex gold futures powered to six-wee...Read More
(Kitco News) - The CNN Fear & Greed Index is currently at 7 - the “Extreme Fear” category, which is a notch lower than Wednesday’s close at 8, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted more than 800 points.The index tracks seven indicators to gauge investor sentiment in the markets: stock price momentum, stock price strength, stock price breadth, put and call options, j...Read More
(Kitco News) - With Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging more than 800 points on Wednesday and gold climbing more than 2% on Thursday, are investors finally giving up on risk assets and shifting their weight to gold? The Denver Gold Forum was a mixed bag when it came to sentiment in gold. There’s no denying, however, that the following three speakers had the most unequivocal, bullish outloo...Read More
Gold-backed global exchange-traded funds posted a large inflow Wednesday, says Commerzbank. This came as the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by more than 800 points. Meanwhile, “the gold ETFs tracked by Bloomberg registered an inflow of around eight tonnes yesterday,” Commerzbank says. “This is attributable to the SPDR Gold Trust in the U.S. and was the first daily inflow...Read More
Editor's Note: Updating earlier story with more details from report.(Kitco News) - Gold extended early gains after Labor Department data Thursday showed that initial weekly U.S. jobless claims rose by 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 214,000 in the week to Saturday. Consensus expectations compiled by various news organizations had called for initial claims to be around 205,000 to 207,000. The g...Read More
Equities got clobbered on Wednesday and this morning we are seeing some follow-through to the downside. Gold and silver rallied on Wednesday but not as much as you would have thought based on the trashing of equities. However, both are joining the Jeffersons this morning and are “moving on up.” As we have written many times, we don’t look at gold as a safe-haven play; we look at...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold finds its legs after the crush in global equity markets yesterday. The rising yields with the uncertainty of the trade war with China became too much for equity investors and the herd headed for the exits. The scenario suggests that it was a safe haven play, but generally when equities collapse the first move for gold is lower, as investors raise cash to meet margin calls. This...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly lower at the close of trading on Wednesday October 10, with three-month lead at multi-year lows.The three-month lead price has come under pressure this week from strong headwinds from a firm US dollar index. The metal, which is trading at its lowest in more than two years, remains largely directionless although China's continued efforts...Read More
Comex copper prices were trading at a one-week high on October 10 morning in the US, with the market alleviated by a weaker dollar and focus on LME Week.The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 0.20 cents or 0.1% to $2.8085 per lb. During today's intraday trading, the contract touched a high of $2.82 per lb, the highest since Octo...Read More
The reversal of the decision to shut down Hydro's Alunorte refinery means alumina prices will quickly break below the $500 per tonne level, traders said. Hydro's announcement last week that Alunorte would shut down 100% of its operations sparked market panic with the alumina fob Australia index climbing higher and business for Chinese cargo concluded at $600 per tonne. But news over the weekend th...Read More