The base metals were all seeing red on Tuesday. Copper held in positive territory until mid-morning, then capsized, sinking to the noon hour, before then righting the ship and adding a little back to finish at $2.2556/lb., down 5 1/3 cents.

Nickel held up a bit longer than copper, but it too nosedived in the late morning, falling below the $7 mark to close at $6.9188/lb., down more than 18 cents. Zinc plummeted as well, but it pared its losses late, ending at $0.6852/lb., down three-quarters of a cent. Aluminum was modestly lower, dropping just over a half-cent, to $0.7221/lb., while lead completed the down day, shedding nearly a penny, to $0.7607/lb.

Copper led the industrial metals lower yesterday, falling the most in a week as Monday’s optimism faded. Traders noted the decline in consumer confidence and the modest selloff in the dollar, and concluded that the ‘green shoots’ may still

The base metals were mixed on Monday. Copper held in positive territory during the pre-dawn hours, then tacked on some more gains to mid-morning in New York, before easing through the rest of the day to finish at $2.3086/lb., up 3 2/3 cents from Friday.

Nickel was well up at mid-morning but sold off sharply from there, just pulling up out of the red late to close at $7.1002/lb., up a half-cent. Zinc declined in the pre-dawn hours, rose in early New York trading, but fell off after mid-morning to end at $0.6935/lb., down a penny. Aluminum was modestly lower, dropping less than a half-cent, to $0.7267/lb., while lead eked out a gain of less than a third of a cent, to $0.7697/lb.

Copper was a bit higher as there was little movement in the industrial metals’ prices on Monday, as “the drawdown in stockpiles is one of the fundamentals supporting

The base metals were all basking in the green again on Friday. Copper had another strong day, pushing steadily higher from the pre-dawn hours to the noon hour, after which it came off a little to finish at $2.1688/lb., up 4 cents.

Nickel was choppier but had an upward bias, closing just off its intraday high at $6.2271/lb., up nearly 11 cents. Zinc followed copper’s path closely, ending at $0.6828/lb., up 2½ cents. Aluminum moved ahead, tacking on more than a penny, to $0.6353/lb., while lead made a powerful move, adding 3 2/3 cents, to $0.705/lb.

Copper led the industrials higher for a second day in a row, and ended May with its fifth straight monthly gain, as traders rode the declining dollar and those elusive green shoots northward.

Copper is now up 56% on the year, as commodities in general have done well. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodity futures posted

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 all modestly lower on Friday. Copper declined into the New York open, and though it rallied from there, came off its highs late to finish at $1.4318/lb., down more than a penny. Nickel fell below the $5 mark and, though it struggled mightily to regain it, fell just short at $4.9986/lb., down 7 cents. Zinc was off through most of the day, ending at $0.4835/lb., down three-quarters of a cent. Aluminum was weak, closing at $0.592/lb., down a penny, while lead sank to $0.5082/lb., down almost a penny.

While copper was down in late trading, the early rally was enough for Michael Gross, an OptionSellers.com analyst in Tampa, Florida, to comment that, “With the oil moving up and gold being higher, that got people into copper today … A lot of traders didn’t want to go home over the weekend short on copper.”

But Gross hastened to add

The base metals all fell back into the red on Tuesday. Copper peaked in the late pre-dawn hours and it was all downhill from there, as it barely came off its intraday lows late to finish at $1.4483/lb., down 9¼ cents.

Nickel fell until the New York open, but staged a strong rally through the rest of the day that returned it almost to break-even, closing at $5.0296/lb., down less than 3 cents. Zinc slumped all day, ending at its intraday low of $0.5006/lb., down 2 cents. Aluminum had a weak day, shedding nearly 2 cents, to $0.5924/lb., while lead dropped a penny and two-thirds, to $0.5079/lb.

Copper pointed the way for the industrial metals to move lower, as the brief euphoria stemming from Monday’s housing numbers evaporated, and stockpiles which continue to swell dominated the market.

Copper inventories monitored by the LME followed up Monday’s gain of nearly 15,000 metric tons by

The base metals were all deep in the red on Wednesday. Copper fell from the pre-dawn hours straight through the New York day, finishing at its intraday low of $1.4696/lb., down more than 6 cents.

Nickel also plunged daylong, just coming off its intraday lows late to close at $5.4242/lb., down 42¼ cents. Zinc was steady until mid-morning, but then sagged to its intraday low of $0.5538/lb., down 2¾ cents. Aluminum dropped slowly but steadily, ending at $0.705/lb., down just under a penny and a half, while lead also plummeted, giving up nearly 2 2/3 cents, to $0.5139/lb.

Copper skidded the most in two weeks after the weak jobs data generated some major cracks in the optimism that had been lately felt about a possible economic recovery. The recent rally, which was linked to the rebalancing of commodity indices, was stopped cold, analysts said.

“Index rebalancing is not going to be a

The base metals were all well into positive territory on Tuesday. Copper bottomed just north of $1.75 in the pre-dawn hours, then went near-vertical before leveling off in the late morning to cruise to a finish at $1.9393/lb., up more than 11 cents. Nickel pushed upward for most of the day, regaining the $5 mark and holding to close at its intraday high of $5.40/lb., up 40 cents.

Zinc also was sharply higher, just pulling back a bit late to end at $0.5322/lb., up almost 3 cents. Aluminum followed much the same path, busting to its intraday high of $0.9236/lb., up 2¾ cents, while lead had some brisker ups and downs, eventually adding a penny and a quarter, to $0.6869/lb.

Copper led the charge among the industrial metals yesterday, as the sinking buck and rising price of crude sparked a bit of interest in the commodities as inflation hedges.

“The dollar is selling

The base metals were all well into positive territory on Monday. Copper rose from the pre-dawn hours straight through the day, finishing at its intraday high of $2.3724/lb., up better than 18 cents from Friday.

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.