The base metals were mostly lower on Tuesday. Copper had rallied from the late pre-dawn hours to mid-morning, pushing past $2.27, but then fell off sharply to noon before edging a bit higher late to finish at $2.2114, down almost 2 cents.

Nickel followed a similar path, closing just off its intraday lows at $7.0322/lb., down 17 cents. Zinc didn’t come as far off its morning highs, and ended at $0.6987/lb., up more than three-quarters of a cent. Aluminum was little changed, shedding a quarter-cent, to $0.7153/lb., while lead also dropped a bit, losing a third of a cent, to $0.7518/lb.

Copper led most of the industrial metals lower yesterday, as an early rally was snuffed out by economic jitters.

“It’s a bit of hesitation we’re seeing today,” said Robin Bhar, senior metals analyst at Calyon. “Prices seem to have stalled in both equity and commodity markets … as this

The base metals were little changed on Friday. Copper bottomed in the late pre-dawn hours, pushed higher from there to mid-morning, then eased into a finish at $1.6449/lb., up 2 1/3 cents.

Nickel had a series of $4.31 peaks into the New York morning, but then slid for the rest of the day, closing at $4.257/lb., up just over a penny and a half. Zinc fell from its mid-morning highs and wound up at its intraday low of $0.5356/lb., down a half-cent. Aluminum had a slight gain, adding less than two-tenths of a cent, to $0.5951/lb., while lead was also modestly higher, tacking on just under a half-cent, to $0.561/lb.

Copper clung to its gains for the day, as a reversal of formerly-burgeoning stockpiles suggested that demand could have seen its lows.

Inventories monitored by the LME fell 6,700 metric tons yesterday, dropping below the 500,000 ton mark for the first

The base metals were mostly in the red on Wednesday. Copper slumped from the late pre-dawn hours straight through New York, with only a small late uptick near the finish at $1.6153/lb., down more than 4¾ cents.

Nickel was in positive territory just before New York opened, but then it fell steadily to close at its intraday low of $4.322/lb., down 5½ cents. Zinc had a lot of ups and downs, but ended at $0.5442/lb., down better than a penny. Aluminum was well in the green into the afternoon, but then slid to $0.5838/lb., up only a quarter-cent, while lead slumped by more than three-quarters of a cent, to $0.565/lb.

Copper failed to follow up on its nice Tuesday rally, despite the widely-anticipated strong movement higher in Chinese imports.

Traders were apparently muddled by the mixed data out of China. On the one hand, the country’s total copper imports surged 41.5% to

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

Base metals had somewhat of a banner day on Wednesday. Copper rose 9.31 cents from Tuesday’s close to $1.6741/lb. Nickel gained more than 15 cents to finish at $4.5163/lb. Zinc tacked on more than 3 and one-half pennies, ending at $0.5364/lb. Aluminum increased slightly more than 1 cent and one-half, closing at $0.5945/lb., while lead moved to $0.5148/lb., up 3.55 cents from the previous session.

Copper, the base metal whose price movements reflect industrial activity, has gained over 12% in a week. The bounce in prices has been linked to falling inventories and (once again) growing hopes for a new stimulus package in China.

Copper stocks in LME warehouses fell 4850 metric tons to just over 526,000 tons, notching up a fall of more than 22,000 tons since February 25, and seemingly reversing a trend in which inventories had doubled since October last year.

Furthermore, the number of cancelled warrants - metal

The base metals were all splashed with red on Friday. Copper cratered during the pre-dawn hours, and was still at its lows after the noon hour, but it staged a late rally that took it back to finish at $1.4519/lb., down only 2 cents.

Nickel was down all day long, barely coming off its intraday low to close at $4.2502/lb., down more than 17 cents. Zinc fell in the pre-dawn hours, rallied into the afternoon, but then lost it all and ended at its intraday low of $0.4785/lb., down a penny and a half. Aluminum was also a daylong loser, giving up a penny and a third, to $0.5736/lb., while lead plummeted to $0.4553/lb., down 2½ cents.

Copper posted another weekly decline, as skyrocketing stockpiles served as a stark indicator of global economic weakness.

Inventories monitored by the LME surged 17,350 metric tons yesterday, to 545,600 tons, a more than 5-year high.

The build

The base metals were all in the green in light post-Christmas trading on Monday. Copper noodled around within a tight 4-cent range the whole day, finishing at $1.3115/lb., up more than 2 cents from Friday. Nickel had a good day, advancing to $4.409/lb., up 17 cents. Zinc moved slightly higher, closing at $0.5164/lb., up three-quarters of a cent. Aluminum posted a modest gain to $0.6868/lb., up more than a penny, while lead had a very strong day, adding nearly 4 cents, to $0.4177/lb.

Copper benefited from the strength in crude and the shakiness of the dollar, most of which had to do with the amped-up strife in the Middle East. Analysts generally believe any rally will be short-lived as demand destruction continues apace.

Supporting the pessimistic view were stockpiles that show no signs of slackening in their buildup. Copper inventories monitored by the LME gained another 5,250 metric tons yesterday,

The base metals were all mired in the red on Monday. Copper was in the green until the late pre-dawn hours, but fell off the rest of the day, only coming slightly off its intraday lows to finish at $1.6186/lb., down 2¼ cents from Friday.

Nickel sagged from the pre-dawn hours all the way through, closing at its intraday low of $4.3681/lb., down 8 cents. Zinc was in the green until the noon hour, but then it too sold off, ending at its intraday low of $0.525/lb., down nearly a penny. Aluminum had another weak day, shedding a penny and a half to $0.7575/lb., while lead gave up just over a penny, to $0.4837/lb.

Copper was off, albeit perhaps not as much as might have been expected considering the selloffs in other markets, as well as the gloomy news that keeps piling up.

In addition to the grim purchasing managers’ indexes from the

The base metals were mostly mired in negative territory on Friday. Copper fell from the pre-dawn hours to mid-morning, then rallied back, finishing at $1.6414/lb., up a half-cent from Tuesday.

Nickel declined until nearly mid-morning, then rose, but not enough to take it back to break-even as it closed at $4.449/lb., down 9 cents. Zinc mirrored nickel’s performance, also ending down in the red at $0.5337/lb., down 2 2/3 cents. Aluminum had another weak day, giving up just over 2 cents to $0.7725/lb., while lead, despite a strong rally late, dropped 3½ cents, to $0.4946/lb.

Copper was little changed, but wound up November down 9.8% for the month. It was the fifth straight month of declines for the metal, marking the longest such streak since early 1999.

“Markets are under pressure on account of the bearish macro backdrop, which is directly manifesting itself through rising LME stock levels,” said Edward

The base metals were mostly lower on Monday. Copper held onto Friday’s close until the late pre-dawn hours, but then was off sharply, bottoming near $1.75 at mid-morning before rallying to a finish at $1.828/lb., down 6½ cents from Friday.

Nickel hit a steep slide early, falling below the $5 mark shortly before New York opened, and staying there the rest of the day to close at $4.9804/lb., down more than 56 cents. Zinc was also off early, but a spirited morning rally propelled it $0.5036/lb., up more than a penny and a half. Aluminum followed much the same path but failed to break even at $0.8964/lb., down less than a half-cent, while lead was modestly lower, ending down just under a penny and a quarter, at $0.6747/lb.

Copper suffered through another down day as steeply rising stockpiles signal the global dropoff in demand.

Inventories monitored by the LME gained