Non-ferrous metals prices show downward trend

Non-ferrous metals prices on all major exchanges remained negative in the last trading session on 14 February, 2023. On the other hand, the US dollar continued to rise.

Three-month contract prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) remained in negative terrain yesterday. Aluminum prices inched down by 0.2%, zinc was down 0.5%, lead fell by 0.1%, copper remained almost firm while nickel fell by 0.6%.

MCX futures prices mostly opened at lower levels today. Nickel opened almost stable at INR 2,450/kg, lead down 0.8% at INR 184/kg, copper fell 0.39% at INR 775.15/kg, aluminum fell 0.2% at INR 213/kg, while zinc was down 0.76% to INR 272.65/kg.

US CPI inflation rises in Jan'23

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.

The US Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.5% in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.1% in December, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported recently. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 6.4% before seasonal adjustment.

India

India's imported aluminium scrap market saw mixed sentiments throughout the week due to variations seen in key commodity exchanges such as the London Metal Exchange (LME). Additionally, due to discrepancies in bids-offers, market participants took a pause for the time being.

Copper prices in India remain stable d-o-d yesterday. Some scrap sellers opted to wait and watch amid moderate transactions.

Oil prices down

Brent oil futures fell by 1.26% at $84.76 per barrel, while crude oil WTI futures decreased by 1.73% to $78.31 per barrel.

Prices of natural gas were recorded at $2.563/MMBtu at the time of publishing this article, up 6.6% as against the last closing price.

Dollar index

The dollar index, which gauges the value of the dollar in a basket of six different currencies, hovered around 103.40 at the time of publishing this report, up 0.16% as against the last session.

The rupee was recorded at 82.87 against the US dollar, depreciating 0.17 paise against the previous closing.