Base metals prices show mixed trends

Base metals prices on all major exchanges showed mixed trends in the opening session today.

London Metal Exchange's (LME's) three-months prices opened on a mixed note today. Aluminium rose by 0.3%, zinc rose by 0.7%, lead decreased by 0.8%, copper edged up by 0.8%, whereas nickel fell by 0.4%.

MCX futures prices remained positive on the last trading day. Nickel was down 0.8% at INR 2,547/kg, lead moved up by 0.1% to INR 189/kg, copper rose by 0.3% at INR 721/kg, aluminium was up 0.5% to INR 209/kg, while zinc increased by 0.7% to INR 270/kg.

The US Fed will announce its December monetary policy meeting minutes this week. The US central bank raised interest rates by 50 basis points last month after delivering four consecutive 75-basis point hikes in the year.

LME stock levels mixed

Base metals stocks at LME-registered warehouses decreased by up to 5.3% in the last session today. However, copper and nickel was up by 3.4%.

Oil prices rise slightly

Brent oil futures was almost stable at $85.50 per barrel, while crude oil WTI futures was up 2% at $79.94 per barrel at the time of publishing this report.

Dollar index

The dollar index, which gauges the value of the dollar in a basket of six different currencies, hovered around 103.62 at the time of publishing this report, and was up marginally by 0.09% against the last session.

The rupee was recorded at 82.77 against the US dollar, depreciating 0.20 paise against the previous closing.