Non-ferrous metals prices show mixed trends

Non-ferrous metals prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed mixed on 11 April, 2023. Three-month aluminium futures contract inched down by 1.3% to $2,302/t and zinc prices edged down by 0.4% to $2,779/t. Lead edged down by 0.4% to $2,087/t. Meanwhile, nickel prices inched up by 2.9% to $23,472/t. Copper futures inched up by 0.6% closing at $8,854/t. The US will release its March Consumer Price Index (CPI) data today according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics.

In March 2023, the unemployment rate in South Korea inched up from the previous month to 2.7%. This means that more people were looking for jobs but could not find them. However, the economy did add some new jobs for the 24th month in a row, which is a good news. The total number of people with jobs was 28.22 million. This was an increase of 469,000 compared to the same month the previous year. There are some concerns that the economy is slowing down, which could make it harder for people to find work in the future.

China's automobile production

In March 2023, China's automobile industry produced 2.584 million cars and sold 2.451 million cars. This was a significant increase of 27.2% and 24% compared to the same month in the previous year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). This means that more cars were made and sold, which is a good news for the industry.

India

Prices of imported aluminium scrap in India inched down, impacted by price movements on global commodity exchanges. Negligible transactions have been reported in the international market during the past three to four days since the major commodity exchanges were closed on account of Good Friday and Easter apart from this being a weekend. Moreover, trade channels saw minor bid-offer disparity exhibited in the market.

Domestic copper prices remained stable d-o-d today. The regional market place appears to be exhibiting a state of equilibrium, with a relatively even ratio of demand and supply. Nonetheless, there has been a "gradual increase" in domestic operations, resulting in a moderate level of commercial activity.

Oil firm, natural gas prices inch up

Brent oil futures inched up by 1.5% to $85.69 per barrel. Crude oil WTI futures inched up by almost 2% to $81.57 per barrel.

Prices of natural gas were recorded at $2.212/ MMBtu at the time of publishing this insight, up by 1.8% 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 102.06. The index inched down by 0.15% against the last session.

The rupee was recorded at 81.09 against the dollar, down 0.80 paise as against the previous closing.