It was a good day for the base metals Monday as copper, aluminum, lead, and zinc all gained, leaving nickel as the sole loser. Copper rose sharply to begin trading, reaching past $1.36/lb., but lost ground throughout the day. The metal ultimately finished at up less than ½ cent at $1.3115/lb.

Nickel, also started sharply up in early trading, but it relinquished its gains, finishing down 4 ½ cents at $4.4339/lb. Zinc rose steadily starting in the pre-dawn hours, finishing close to near its intraday high at $0.5177/lb., gaining 1½ cents on the day. Lead also posted gains Monday, rising steadily throughout trading to finish up 1½ cents, at $0.3948/lb. Aluminum fell slightly to begin the day but quickly recovered to finish just off its intraday high at $0.6839/lb., up over 1¾ cents.

Copper’s gains were a reaction to the Bank of China’s decision to lower interest rates in an effort to

The base metals did little more than tread water on Tuesday. Copper sank from the pre-dawn hours to mid-morning, but then rallied strongly to the noon hour, but faded again from there, finishing at $1.611/lb., up a tenth of a cent. Nickel crested at $4.70, also around the noon hour, then gave back most of the day’s gains, closing at $4.607/lb., up less than a half-cent.

Zinc pushed higher from the pre-dawn hours through the morning, only easing a bit late, to end at $0.5358/lb., up 2 cents. Aluminum too had a morning rally, but wound up little changed, adding less than a half-penny, to $0.8354/lb., while lead was little changed at $0.577/lb., up less than a quarter-cent.

Copper came in nearly unchanged after a down/up/down session in which the industrial metals barely showed any signs of life.

“Worries about the international economic outlook have continued to dominate base metals trading,” wrote

The base metals were little changed on Thursday. Copper was off in the pre-dawn hours, but then rose through the New York day, overcoming each selloff to finish at $3.1511/lb., up more than 2 cents. Nickel traded sideways for most of the day, closing at $7.5773/lb., up 2¼ cents.