Base metals prices show mixed trends

Base metals prices on all major exchanges witnessed mixed trends on 6 December, 2022.

LME's three-months copper contract edged up by 0.4%, nickel rose 2.1%, aluminium was down 0.6%, zinc rose by 1%, while lead decreased 0.8%.

SHFE copper inched up 0.05%, aluminium added 0.78%, lead lost 0.91%, and zinc advanced 0.96%.

Market awaits USA Fed meeting

The market expects the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to raise rates by 0.5 percentage points at its next meeting on 14 December. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation report will come the day before the Fed announces rates, as per latest reports. The Fed meeting next week is worth attention for the market.

RBI announces repo rate

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced its policy review today. The RBI hiked the policy repo rate - for a fifth consecutive time - by 35 basis points to 6.25% today.

Also, the RBI has reduced India's growth forecast from 7% to 6.8% for FY23.

Germany industrial orders rise

German industrial orders recovered in October 2022, increasing by 0.8% m-o-m, official data showed on 6 December, adding to hopes that an economic slowdown caused by Russia's war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices might not be as bad as feared.

The small uptick follows two months of steep falls, and was mainly down to a strong recovery in orders from abroad, according to latest updates.

The Indian domestic market saw fluctuations yesterday with copper showing a slight downward movement owing to a marginal decline in copper futures after hitting six months high on 5 December. However, zinc and alumininum was on a slight upward side despite stable futures.

LME stock levels down

Base metals stocks at LME-registered warehouses decreased by up to 1.9% d-o-d in the last session. However, nickel stocks rose 2%.

Oil prices decline

Brent oil futures fell by 3% at $79.58 per barrel, while crude oil WTI futures moved down by 2.5% to $74.23 per barrel at the time of reporting.

Dollar index

The dollar index, which gauges the value of the dollar in a basket of six different currencies, hovered at 105.59, up marginally by 0.02% against the last session.

The rupee was recorded at 82.49 against the US dollar, depreciating 0.25 paise against the last closing.