Base metals prices show positive trends

Base metals prices on all the major exchanges trended higher on 18 November, 2022.

China Covid cases rise

The coronavirus situation in China has become grim again with the number of Covid-19 cases rising to over 25,000, including more then 500 in bejing.

US data due this week

The minutes of the Fed's November meeting, due later this week, are expected to shed more light on US monetary policy.

FTX crpto exchange owes billions to creditors

The collapse of the world's second largest crypto exchange shook confidence in the already troubled cryptocurrency market.

It is unclear how many people, with funds in the exchange, will get back the money at the end of bankruptcy proceedings. And even if they at all receive, it is far from clear as to how much that would be.

Base metals market performance - 18 November

• LME's three-months copper contract edged down by 0.4%, while nickel rose 1.3% and aluminium increased by 1.6%. Zinc rose by 1.5%, while lead remained almost stable.
  
  
• SHFE copper fell 1.03%, aluminium rose 0.05%, lead added 0.35%, and zinc gained 0.86%.
  
  

LME stock levels decline

All base metals stocks at LME-registered warehouses decreased by up to 0.7% d-o-d in the last session.

Oil prices fall d-o-d

Rising Covid-19 cases in China trigerred new lockdown measures in some of the country's biggest cities, drumming up concerns over slowing crude demand in the world's largest oil importer. The country is currently struggling with its worst Covid outbreak since April, which had seen several cities placed under lockdown.

Brent oil futures fell 3% to $86.76 per barrel, while crude oil WTI futures inched down by 3% to $79.21 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 around 107.34, up marginally by 0.39% against the last session.

The rupee was recorded at 81.88 against the US dollar, depreciating 0.20 against the last closing.