The base metals were all glowing green on Wednesday. Copper rose from the pre-dawn hours to just after noon in New York, then eased for the rest of the day, finishing at $2.2554/lb., up 7 cents.

Nickel followed copper’s path exactly, ending at $6.9324/lb., up 28¾ cents. Zinc was roughly similar, closing at $0.7108/lb., up 2¾ cents. Aluminum was strongly higher, adding nearly 2 cents, to $0.7312/lb., while lead had a very good day, tacking on 2½ cents, to $0.7606/lb.

Copper led the industrial metals sharply higher as, according to Bloomberg, “the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development raised its growth forecast and U.S. durable-goods orders unexpectedly increased, boosting the demand outlook for the metal.

“The combined economy of the 30 OECD members will grow 0.7 percent in 2010, the group said today, raising its estimate for the first time in two years …

“ ‘The global economy has a good

The base metals were all flashing green on Friday. Copper moved higher in the pre-dawn hours, went flat until late morning, then shot up again to finish barely off its intraday highs at $2.0954/lb., up 7¼ cents.

Nickel crashed from the late pre-dawn hours to late morning, but then moved up sharply to regain positive territory and close at $5.3093/lb., up 5½ cents. Zinc was up steadily all day, ending at $0.6705/lb., up 4½ cents. Aluminum had a good day, adding a penny and a third, to $0.6762/lb., while lead was strong as well, tacking on just under 3 cents, to $0.6271/lb.

Copper led the industrial metals higher, prolonging its recent strong run to a 2-week high as the somewhat upbeat economic numbers combined with continually dwindling supplies to give the metal a shot in the arm.

Inventories monitored by the LME were off sharply again yesterday, falling by 7,075 metric tons, to

U.S. non-farm payrolls fall 533,000 in November… Oil slips more than 2 percent

Gold fell on Friday as investors sold assets after data showed a much larger-than-expected fall in U.S. November non-farm payrolls.

A sharp dip in the dollar in the immediate wake of the numbers initially sent gold higher, but it quickly gave up gains as the U.S. currency reversed direction.

The precious metal is often bought as an alternative investment to the dollar and tends to move in the opposite direction to it.

Spot gold was quoted at $752.30/754.30 an ounce at 1427 GMT, against $765.70 late in New York on Thursday, having earlier touched a low of $747.20.

“(The data) shows a worsening economic situation, and it is hard for assets to maintain value against that,” said John Meyer, an analyst at Fairfax investment bank.

U.S. non-farm payrolls fell by 533,000

Dollar firms vs euro; ECB seen cutting rates by 50 bp… Oil slides as demand woes outweigh U.S. stockpile dip… ZKB platinum ETF holdings rise 27 pct

Gold slipped in Europe on Thursday as the dollar firmed against the euro ahead of an expected rate cut by the European Central Bank later in the session, and oil prices fell $1 a barrel.

Investors are eyeing rate cuts this session from both the ECB and the Bank of England and key U.S. jobs data on Friday for clues as to the future direction of trade.

Spot gold slid to $769.25/771.25 an ounce at 1000 GMT from $772.60 an ounce in New York late on Wednesday.

“With a lower euro-dollar and lower oil, gold is pressured a bit,” Commerzbank senior trader Michael Kempsinki said. “Around $735, $750, we should see some good buying interest coming into the

The base metals nearly all took a thrashing on Wednesday. Copper peaked at the New York open, but sagged with only a couple of feeble rallies through the day, finishing at $2.4025/lb., down 19½ cents. Nickel was crushed, falling below the $6 mark around mid-morning and failing to re-take the level, closing at $5.8173/lb., down 60 cents.

The base metals all took a major shellacking on Monday. Copper declined from the pre-dawn hours straight through the New York day, finishing at its intraday low of $2.8879/lb., down 20¾ cents.