Non-ferrous metals prices show mixed trend

Non-ferrous metals prices on all major exchanges were volatile in the last trading session on 13 February, 2023. On the other hand, the US dollar marked near 83 again.

Three-month contract prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) were in a volatile terrain yesterday. Aluminum prices inched down by 1.1%, zinc was up 1.8%, lead up 0.9%, copper edged up 0.9%, and nickel down 4.2%.

MCX futures prices mostly opened on uptrend today. Nickel opened by 0.15% higher at INR 2,450/kg, lead up 0.9% at INR 185.10/kg, copper up 0.10% at INR 772.85/kg, aluminum up 0.26% at INR 214.6/kg, while zinc was down 0.95% to INR 274.95/kg.

The current market focus is on the upcoming U.S. CPI data, which will have an important impact on the nation's interest rate hike strategy. Moreover, the U.S. dollar index fell overnight.

India's domestic aluminium scrap prices fell by up to 1.2% yesterday on low buying enquiries and lessening future contracts on LME. Some scrap sellers restrained their offers and opted for wait and watch mode on moderate scrap supplies particularly tense grade scrap, exy and excluding GST. India's copper market also saw a decrease in prices yesterday as against 10 February, due to limited activities and low demand for finished products in domestic market.

Japan's Q4 GDP rebounds
The Japanese economy advanced 0.6% y-o-y in the fourth quarter of 2022, below market consensus of a 2% growth and after a revised 1% contraction in Q3, a flash reading showed.

India's retail inflation rises m-o-m in Jan'23

India's retail inflation for January increased to 6.52% compared to 5.72% recorded in December 2022, according to data published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on 13 February.

Oil prices move down

Brent oil futures fell by 0.29% at $86.01 per barrel, while crude oil WTI futures decreased by 0.50% to $79.22 per barrel.

Prices of natural gas were recorded at $2.43/MMBtu at the time of publishing this article, down 3% 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. It hovered at around 103.14 at the time of publishing this report, down 0.20% as against the last session.

The rupee was recorded at 82.70 against the US dollar, almost stable against the previous closing.