The base metals were all well into the red on Monday. Copper had a completely U-shaped day, with the bottom near the New York open, and finished at $2.2302, down 4½ cents from Thursday.

Nickel followed a similar but less steep path, closing at $7.4382/lb., down nearly 23½ cents. Zinc was similar, just retreating from its intraday highs to end at $0.6904/lb., down short of a penny. Aluminum had a strong late-day rally but it wasn’t enough as it shed more than three-quarters of a cent, to $0.718/lb., while lead also sagged, dropping almost a half-cent, to $0.7582/lb.

Copper led the industrial metals lower yesterday amid economic worries and inventory gains, but rose sharply off of session lows when chart-based buying hit key technical trading levels.

For the first time in weeks, stockpiles showed gains on two consecutive days. Inventories monitored by the LME added 900 metric tons yesterday, to

The base metals were mixed on Tuesday. Copper was up sharply in the pre-dawn hours, peaking near $2.09 at the New York open and, though it then gave up most of its gains, stayed just in the green to finish at $2.0442/lb., up three-quarters of a cent.

Nickel also took losses during the day but remained upright, closing at $5.6321/lb., up 7¾ cents. Zinc’s swoon took it just under break-even at $0.6739/lb., down less than a tenth of a cent. Aluminum fell to its intraday low of $0.6634/lb., down nearly a penny, while lead also dropped to its intraday low of $0.6648/lb., down three-quarters of a cent.

Copper somehow held in positive territory even as the weak housing data suggested a decreased demand for the metal going forward.

“There is still weakness in the economy and housing that will pressure copper prices,” said Gijsbert Groenewegen, of Gold Arrow Capital Management in

The base metals were all a bit red on Monday. Copper fell from the pre-dawn hours to mid-morning, bottoming at $2.04 before inching its way back through the rest of the day to finish at $2.0629/lb., down more than 6½ cents.

Nickel had a day of sharp ups and downs to little ultimate effect, closing at $5.8241/lb., down just over 3 cents. Zinc was down big during the pre-dawn hours and didn’t get enough back in New York to make the green, ending at $0.6873/lb., down a penny and a half. Aluminum was little changed, shedding a third of a cent, to $0.68/lb., while lead fell sharply, rose all the way back to break-even, then eased late, dropping a quarter-cent, to $0.6479/lb.

Copper led the industrial metals lower, as traders responded to sinking equities markets and chose to book some profits after recent gains, but the fact that it held well

The base metals were mixed on Thursday. Copper flirted with the $2.20 mark in the late pre-dawn hours, but then fell off through the day, finishing at its intraday low of $2.1135/lb., down nearly 6 cents.

Nickel pushed above $6 in the pre-dawn hours and then again at mid-morning, before backing off a bit to close at $5.8423/lb., up more than 9 cents. Zinc peaked at 73 cents but then hit the skids, ending at $0.695/lb., down a penny and a half. Aluminum was modestly lower, shedding just over a third of a cent, to $0.6889/lb., while lead moved slightly higher, adding three-quarters of a cent, to $0.6532/lb.

Copper headlined a day of mixed results by pulling back from a three-week high of $2.217, as traders decided that was a lofty enough level to take some profits ahead of the release of the bank stress tests and today’s jobless numbers

The base metals were nearly all in the red on Monday. Copper sagged during the pre-dawn hours, rallied through the morning, but then backed off again late to finish at $1.6233/lb., down nearly 3¾ cents.

Nickel had an up and down day, with the biggest down coming in the early afternoon, driving it to a close at $4.3114/lb., down more than 6½ cents. Zinc eased, ending at $0.5381/lb., down two-thirds of a cent. Aluminum held up through the morning, then plunged to its intraday low of $0.5643/lb., down a penny, while lead bucked the trend by rising steadily to $0.5565/lb., almost a penny and a half.

Copper fell off the most in two weeks, as global economic concerns ruled the day once again.

The message over the weekend from the World Bank was particularly gloomy. The bank predicted that the global economy will shrink this year for the first time since World

The base metals were mixed on Monday. Copper was still in the green at mid-morning, but then skidded, dropping just into the red and finishing at $1.4496/lb., down a quarter of a cent. Nickel hit a late morning slump that dropped it from positive territory to its intraday low of $4.2139/lb., down 3 2/3 cents.

Zinc showed little movement in either direction, ending at $0.4855/lb., up three-quarters of a cent. Aluminum had a daylong slide, giving up nearly a penny and a quarter, to $0.5618/lb., while lead survived a late-day slump to close at $0.4562/lb., up a tenth of a cent.

Copper managed to close out a day of listless trading without much of a loss, as stockpiles played a major role in stabilizing the metal’s price.

Inventories monitored by the LME posted their second decline in the past week, falling by 950 metric tons yesterday, to 544,650 tons. That was just a

The base metals were mostly in the green on Monday. Copper turned in a second strong day in a row, rising from the pre-dawn hours to the noon hour, before tapering off to finish at $1.5404/lb., up 15 cents.

Nickel was erratic, but with a slight down bias, closing at $5.0583/lb., down just under 10 cents. Zinc moved up modestly, ending at $0.5209/lb., up a tenth of a cent. Aluminum had a good day, adding more than a penny and a third, to $0.6119/lb., while lead tacked on less than a penny and a quarter, at $0.5241/lb.

Analysts attributed copper’s strong day to an extension of the short-covering rally begun late last week, as well as the surprising existing home sales data.

“There’s some bullishness coming back to commodities and copper is following that trend,” said Donald Selkin, of National Securities Corp. in New York. “People felt that the economy is going

The base metals were mixed on Friday. Copper fell from the pre-dawn hours to the New York open, but rallied from there, regaining much of the lost ground though it failed to break even, finishing at $1.893/lb., down 4 1/3 cents.

Nickel briefly dropped below $5 during the pre-dawn hours, but pushed higher through most of the day, closing at $5.4817/lb., up nearly 24 cents. Zinc zigged and zagged to little ultimate effect, ending at $0.4876/lb., down less than a half-cent. Aluminum lost ground, shedding more than a penny, to $0.907/lb., while lead was strong, adding almost 2½ cents, to $0.6864/lb.

In a mixed day for the industrial metals, copper finished up its worst month in thirty years, losing 36% in October on concerns about the slowing global economy. No one is giving it much of a chance for a rebound anytime soon, either.

“The outlook for demand doesn’t look