Prices of precious metals, copper rise

Gold added 0.7 percent on Thursday to $657 per troy ounce late in the session in London as the US dollar weakened in the wake of Wednesday’s decision by the Federal Reserve to keep US interest rates at their current level for another month. Gold traded as high as $661.50 per troy ounce earlier in the day. The gain in gold prices helped silver to advance as well, sending it 1 percent higher to $13.64 per troy ounce.

In base metals, aluminium was the gainer of the day, adding 0.8 percent to $2,753 per tonne even though stockpiles in London Metal Exchange warehouses were up by 5,550 tonnes on the day. Reports estimate that global demand for aluminium will be 6.7 percent higher in 2007, while supply will increase by 7.8 percent on the year.

Nickel prices were 0.4 percent lower, to $36,850 per tonne on the news that a strike at Xstrata’s Sudbury operation in Canada had been avoided. The price decline came even though inventories were down by 606 tonnes on the day, to less than one day’s global consumption.

The price of copper dropped by 2.5 percent to $5,590 per tonne on an increase of 4,275 tonnes in LME stockpiles and even though a strike at a copper mine in Chile seems almost unavoidable after miners rejected a final offer from the mine’s owner.

Stocks of zinc were up by 850 tonnes in LME warehouses, sending the price of the metal 2.9 percent lower to $3,380 per tonne. Supplies still remain tight however, with available supplies at 98,525 tonnes.