Non-ferrous metals prices continue to drop d-o-d

Non-ferrous metals prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) showed almost downtrend at the last closing session. The three-month aluminium futures contract inched down by 2.2% to $2,268/t. Zinc prices edged down by 1.9% to $2,623/t.

On the other hand, lead prices edged down by 0.05% at $2,136/t. Similarly, nickel was down 4.2% to $22,531/t and copper also followed the downtrend. Nickel prices were at $22,531/t dropping by 4.2%. Copper futures also inched down by 1.4% to close at $8,475/t.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.4% in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.1% in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics reported yesterday. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 4.9% before seasonal adjustment.

Consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge for inflation, edged up in April in China by 0.1% year-on-year (y-o-y), and down 0.1% from March, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

The producer price index (PPI), a gauge of prices at factory doors, in April declined by 3.6% y-o-y, and fell 0.5% month-on-month (m-o-m), affected by fluctuation of global bulk commodity prices in addition to weak overseas demand.

Domestic aluminium alloy ingot ADC12 prices decreased by INR 1,000/t (tonne) to INR 199,000/t. The drop in prices can be attributed to moderate transactions.

India's domestic aluminium scrap prices continued to remain rangebound d-o-d. However, trade volumes were moderate despite price revision of P1020 by major players yesterday.

Domestic copper armature scrap prices dipped d-o-d yesterday. A drop in LME futures by 1.09% ( $8,498/t) impacted domestic market prices. However, prices are anticipated to be range-bound in the near term. Meanwhile, demand for primary rods stood stable for the day.

Oil, natural gas prices drop

Brent oil futures dipped by 0.30% to $77.18 per barrel. Similarly, crude oil WTI futures also fell by 0.40% to $73.29 per barrel.

Prices of natural gas were recorded at $2.185/MMBtu at the time of publishing this insight, down 6.5% as against the last closing.

Dollar index

The dollar index, which gauges value of the greenback in a basket of six different currencies, hovered at 101.52. The index stood largely stable with a slight rise of 0.04% against the last session.

The rupee was recorded at 82.03 against the dollar, remained almost firm against its previous closing.