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 red-stained on Wednesday. Copper declined from the pre-dawn hours to the noon hour, but recovered a little ground late to finish at $1.4561/lb., down nearly 3 cents.

Nickel’s chart looked very similar, and it closed on a small upnote at $4.6954/lb., down more than 18 cents. Zinc had a weak day, ending at $0.557/lb., down a penny and a half. Aluminum was slowly lower, shedding a penny, to $0.6547/lb., while lead failed to get even a small late day bump, dropping to its intraday low of $0.5018/lb., down a penny and a quarter.

The industrial metals were down across the board, with copper leading the way lower after the weak retail sales numbers reinforced the notion that there isn’t anything bright in the metals’ future.

John Gross, publisher of the Copper Journal, sees the metal as rangebound at the moment, with key support in the benchmark March

Dollar rises to 3-week high vs euro on stimulus hopes… Oil prices fail to hold gains above $48 a barrel…  Abu Dhabi Dec gold sales fall 40 pct month on month.

Gold slid more than 3 percent in Europe on Monday as the strengthening dollar knocked the metal’s appeal as a currency hedge, and oil prices retreated from highs.

Other precious metals tumbled in gold’s wake, with silver falling 8 percent, platinum 3 percent and palladium 6 percent.

Spot gold was quoted at $851.65/853.65 an ounce at 1445 GMT, down from $873.20 an ounce late in New York on Friday, having touched a session low of $843.50.

U.S. gold futures for February delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange were down $26.60 at $852.90 an ounce, having earlier touched a low of $843.50.

“The dollar is the critical factor today,”

The base metals were mostly lower on Tuesday. Copper was down during the pre-dawn hours, rose to its peak near noon in New York, then declined again to finish just off its intraday low at $1.3659/lb., down 2½ cents.

Nickel also slumped badly after holding steady most of the day, falling to its intraday low of $4.2509/lb., down 24 cents. Zinc seesawed tightly around the break-even point, ending at $0.4794/lb., down a tenth of a cent. Aluminum shook off a pre-dawn dip, adding a third of a cent, to $0.6538/lb., while lead hit the skids again, dropping 2 cents, to $0.4379/lb.

Copper fell for the third session in a row, and to a fresh three-year low, as investors cast an emphatic vote of “no confidence” in the Fed’s rate cut.

A major factor in trading action continues to be the stockpile situation. Inventories monitored by the LME jumped by another 3,800 metric