Non-ferrous metals prices remain volatile

Non-ferrous metals prices saw fluctuating trends on all major commodity exchanges in the last trading session.

Market performance

Three-month contract prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) showed a volatile trend. Aluminium prices decreased by 0.1%, zinc down by 0.3%, lead increased by 0.3%, copper up 2%, and nickel down by 1.9%.

Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) copper added 1.95%, aluminium rose 0.7%, lead grew 0.03%, and zinc gained 0.27%.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), futures prices showed a mixed trend. Nickel increased by 0.9% to INR 2,283/kg, copper edged up by 0.8% and was at INR 771/kg, and zinc rose by 0.2% to INR 287.2/kg. However, lead and aluminium prices remained firm.

China's GDP inches up in Q4 2022

GDP is the core indicator of the national accounts, and also an important indicator to measure the economic conditions and the level of development of a country.

China's Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.9% in October-December from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Tuesday, slower than the third-quarter's 3.9% pace.

India

India's domestic aluminium scrap prices (of all grades except taint tabor) saw an uptick yesterday. The price hike by primary players and higher imported scrap prices lent support to aluminium scrap prices.

Indian copper prices decreased by up to INR 10,000/t d-o-d at yesterday's session, after having hit a seven-month high level recently. As per sources, buyers have finished restocking, leading to a slow procurement.

Brent oil futures rose by 2% to $86.54 per barrel while crude oil WTI futures rose by 1% to $80.76 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 at 102.85 at the time of publishing this report, up by 0.44% against the opening session.

The rupee was recorded at 81.70 against the US dollar, appreciating by 0.10 paise against the previous closing.