London aluminium rises, on track for 4pc weekly jump

BEIJING: London base metal prices rose on Friday, led by aluminium, as they staged a technical recovery following steep falls for aluminium, zinc and nickel in the previous session.

Aluminium climbed by as much as 1.9 percent, having fallen by 2.3 percent in the previous session.

"The market remains jumpy and rarely displaying a consistent tone during any 24-hour period let alone a trend lasting more than two days," Matt France, head of institutional metal sales, Asia, at brokerage Marex Spectron, wrote in a note.

"I still feel there is some value in the metals here but a lot hinges on how the equity markets and (US dollar) performs into the weekend," he added.

Markets are also awaiting the outcome of trade talks between China and the United States in Beijing that end on Friday.

A trade spat between the two countries has roiled metals markets in recent months, with the United States imposing tariffs on aluminium imports, and China retaliating by targeting US aluminium scrap.

FUNDAMENTALS

ALUMINIUM: Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.9 percent to $2,311 a tonne by 0550 GMT. The metal is on course for a 4 percent weekly rise after falling nearly 10 percent last week. Shanghai aluminium closed up 0.3 percent at 14,575 yuan ($2,294.81) a tonne on Friday.

COPPER: Three-month LME copper climbed 0.6 percent to $6,865 a tonne and is up 0.9 percent for the week. The most traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange

ended up 0.6 percent at 51,290 yuan a tonne.

ZINC: Zinc rebounded slightly from Thursday's 1.3 percent drop to trade 0.1 percent higher in London but closed down 1.8 percent in Shanghai. The zinc industry agreed a 15 percent drop in annual zinc processing fees to $147 a tonne, miner and metals smelting company Nyrstar said on Thursday.

SCRAP: The company in charge of inspecting scrap metal shipments from the United States bound for China said that it would suspend checks on shipments for one month starting on Friday, effectively halting China's imports.

INTERNATIONALISATION: China plans to open more of its futures contracts to foreign investors, its securities regulator said on Friday, as the country launched its "internationalised" iron ore contract in a bid to boost its sway over pricing for one of its top imports.