AIRLINK 74.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.34%)
BOP 5.14 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (1.78%)
CNERGY 4.55 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (2.94%)
DFML 37.15 Increased By ▲ 1.31 (3.66%)
DGKC 89.90 Increased By ▲ 1.90 (2.16%)
FCCL 22.40 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (0.9%)
FFBL 33.03 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (0.95%)
FFL 9.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.41%)
GGL 10.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.46%)
HBL 115.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.40 (-0.35%)
HUBC 137.10 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (0.93%)
HUMNL 9.95 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (1.12%)
KEL 4.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.22%)
KOSM 4.83 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.65%)
MLCF 39.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-0.33%)
OGDC 138.20 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.22%)
PAEL 27.00 Increased By ▲ 0.57 (2.16%)
PIAA 24.24 Decreased By ▼ -2.04 (-7.76%)
PIBTL 6.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.3%)
PPL 123.62 Increased By ▲ 0.72 (0.59%)
PRL 27.40 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (2.66%)
PTC 13.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.71%)
SEARL 61.75 Increased By ▲ 3.05 (5.2%)
SNGP 70.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.36%)
SSGC 10.52 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (1.54%)
TELE 8.57 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.12%)
TPLP 11.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-2.46%)
TRG 64.02 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-0.33%)
UNITY 26.76 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (2.73%)
WTL 1.38 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 7,874 Increased By 36.2 (0.46%)
BR30 25,596 Increased By 136 (0.53%)
KSE100 75,342 Increased By 411.7 (0.55%)
KSE30 24,214 Increased By 68.6 (0.28%)

LONDON: Aluminium prices slumped on Thursday as raw material supply concerns eased and investor optimism over early interest rate cuts waned.

Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange (LME) shed 1.5% to $2,279 per metric ton by 1125 GMT, heading for a third consecutive session of losses.

Aluminium prices hit their highest in eight months last week, partly owing to worries that shipments of bauxite, the raw material needed to make aluminium, would be delayed after an explosion in major producer Guinea.

The rally was fuelled by speculative Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) funds, which are often driven by computer programmes, said Alastair Munro, strategist at broker Marex.

Munro said that CTAs drove aluminium higher last week, spurring short-covering in the market, but that he has been told there have been no bauxite shipment problems after the Guinea blast.

Copper, Aluminium retreat on profit-taking

The closure of the arbitrage window between the LME and China also contributed to weak prices, Munro added.

Also weighing on the metals market was uncertainty about when U.S. interest rates would be cut after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting provided few clues.

“As those bets on early rate cuts are being rejigged, metals are correcting. There’s a world of pain and uncertainty out there,” Munro said.

Helping to cap losses was a slight drop in the dollar index. A weaker dollar makes commodities priced in the U.S. currency less expensive for buyers using other currencies.

LME copper fell by 0.5% to $8,474 a ton.

The Yangshan copper premium dropped to $65.50 a ton, down 42% in only a month, indicating low demand for refined copper imports into China as domestic output grew.

LME nickel eased 0.8% to $16,280 a ton, zinc shed 1.3% to $2,553, tin was down 0.4% at $25,195 and lead was little changed at $2,046.50.

Comments

200 characters