Base metals prices mixed on news, inventories

In the metals markets on Tuesday, gold was 0.2 percent lower to $608.50 per troy ounce, prices again being driven by the drop in the price of crude oil. Base metals were mixed, with copper and aluminium up but zinc, nickel and tin lower. Copper was 0.2 percent higher to $5,616 per tonne on a drop in London Metal Exchange inventories, while aluminium added 1.5 percent to $2,650 per tonne. Nickel dropped 2.9 percent to $30,500 per tonne, while tin fell 3.6 percent to $10,000 per tonne with word due on Wednesday on whether eight Indonesian smelters can resume production. Zinc was 4.7 percent lower to $3,545 per tonne after LME stockpiles added 3,100 tonnes to their registered warehouses.