Base metals prices up despite US manufacturing data

Base metals prices rose Wednesday as trading resumed after the New Year’s Day holiday despite sentiment that was depressed after a report from the Institute for Supply Management in the United States showed that manufacturing activity there contracted rather than expanding in December.

The drop in US manufacturing activity called into question demand for the use of metals in industry.

March copper in New York added 2 cents to $3.06 per pound while three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up $85 to $6,755 per tonne, down from its early-session peak of $6,820 per tonne.

Zinc also added $85 on the session in London, to close at $2,402 per tonne and aluminium gained $31 to $2,451 per tonne.

Three-month lead was up $65 to $2,615 per tonne while nickel gained $850 to $27,200 per tonne.

Tin remained untraded but was quoted $50 lower, in a range around $16,350/$16,400 per tonne.