Aluminium
Gold prices lower as equities recover
by Elaine Frei
Precious metals prices were lower Tuesday as the US dollar saw gains in relation to the euro and after US and European equities markets saw gains after Monday’s historic declines.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 777 points Monday, its biggest point loss in one session in history, after the US House of Representatives [...]
Copper drops 17 cents in New York
by Elaine Frei
Most metals prices were lower Monday ahead of the US House of Representatives vote ultimately that turned down a proposal to bail out the US financial sector.
December copper was down 17 cents to $2.91 per pound in afternoon trade in New York while three-month copper was down $335 to $6,440 per tonne in London as [...]
Bailout uncertainty slows copper trade
by Elaine Frei
Copper prices fell Friday on low trade volumes as investors fretted about demand growth and waited for something to happen in negotiations over the US bailout plan after talks faltered late Thursday when some Republicans would not agree to back the plan that had been agreed in principle earlier in the day.
December copper was down [...]
Nickel prices drop on higher inventories
by Elaine Frei
Most base metals prices were up Thursday, but nickel saw declines on more gains in inventories.
Nickel prices were down by $50 to $17,150 per tonne in London Thursday as inventories were up to 53,796 tonnes, the most in over nine years.
The metal also declined on a prediction from Norilsk Nickel (RTS: GMKN; MICEX: GMCK), the [...]
Copper prices fall in London, New York
by Elaine Frei
Most base metals were lower again Wednesday as investors worried about the plan for the US government to bail out the financial sector while business sentiment in Germany declined for the fourth consecutive month as the Ifo business confidence index dropped from 94.8 in August to 92.9 this month.
December copper was down 5 cents to [...]
Copper declines on profit-taking, bailout concerns
by Elaine Frei
Copper prices were lower Tuesday as investors took profits after Monday’s gains and as they worried about how the plan by the US government to spend up to $700 billion to buy up bad debt from banks would impact metals markets.
December copper was down 10 cents to $3.15 per pound in New York, while three-month [...]
Rio invests $131m in Pilbara mining town makeover
by Gill Montia
Residents of Pannawonica, a mining town located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, are to benefit from a $300 million makeover.
The town was established in 1970 and has a population of around 1,000.
It is owned by Rio Tinto subsidiary, Robe River Mining, and is the last remaining closed mining town in the Pilbara, with [...]
Dollar declines push metals prices higher
by Elaine Frei
Metals prices were higher Monday as the US dollar declined on concerns about the financial sector and on sentiment that the Federal Reserve could cut US interest rates again.
Gold was up on the perception that it is a safe investment in a volatile market environment and on worries that confidence will not be enhanced much [...]
Copper, other industrial metals in gains
by Elaine Frei
Base metals prices were higher Friday on a better outlook for demand after the US and other governments began to put plans into place to deal with the effects of the credit crisis on the financial sector.
December copper added 11 cents to $3.18 per pound in New York while three-month copper added $311 to $7,060 [...]
Platinum, palladium prices see gains
by Elaine Frei
Precious metals prices gained Thursday as investors looked for safe places to put their money on uncertainty about whether plans announced by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to pump more money into global financial systems would be enough to stave off more bank failures brought on by the credit crisis.
October platinum was up [...]
Copper lower on decline in US housing starts
by Elaine Frei
Precious metals prices were up Wednesday, but copper declined as the Commerce Department reported that US housing starts dropped by 6.2 percent in August, to the lowest level in over 17 years.
At the same time building permits, which are a gauge of future construction declined even more, dropping 8.9 percent in the month.
The construction industry [...]
Copper prices down on lower China imports
by Elaine Frei
Metals prices were lower again Tuesday.
December copper was down 5 cents to $3.09 per pound in New York after going as low as $3.02 earlier in the session, it’s lowest price in 8 months, while three-month copper dropped $60 to $6,870 per tonne in London.
Prices were down on a gain of 975 tonnes in London [...]
Gold, silver gain as platinum declines
by Elaine Frei
Metals prices were mixed Monday after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) sent global markets into disorder.
Gold and silver saw gains as worried investors sought them out as a safe-haven, but there were worries that gold’s gains could be limited as some speculators could have to sell their gold to raise cash to meet [...]
Precious metals gain on weaker dollar
by Elaine Frei
Metals prices were higher Friday as the US dollar weakened versus the euro, leading investors to look for places to put their money so that it is protected from inflation.
December gold added $19 to $764.50 per troy ounce while December silver was up 24 cents to $10.80 per troy ounce and October platinum jumped $58.30 [...]
Platinum, palladium decline on demand concerns
by Elaine Frei
Precious metals prices were lower Thursday in New York as the dollar strengthened in relation to the euro.
October platinum hit its lowest price in almost two years at $1,121.10 per troy ounce before gaining back some of its declines to trade $39.80 below Wednesday’s close to $1,152.20.
At the same time, palladium reached its lowest level [...]
Copper prices up on Chile earthquake
by Elaine Frei
The price of copper was up in after-hours trade on reports that a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit near copper-mining regions in Chile, although later reports from at least one mine said that there were no disruptions due to the quake.
Three-month copper added $25 in London to $6,840 per tonne but after the news of the [...]
Copper drops on demand worries, inventories
by Elaine Frei
Metals prices fell Tuesday on cheaper oil, a stronger US dollar and on concerns about demand for base metals.
Copper was down 1 cent to $3.09 per pound in New York while three-month copper dropped $85 to $6,815 per tonne in London after going as low as $6,778 per tonne earlier as inventories in London Metal [...]
Copper falls back from early gains
by Elaine Frei
After being up earlier on the government takeover of US mortgage lenders Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) as investors hoped that the intervention would help the global economy and stimulate growth in home construction, a major consumer of copper, the price of the metal lost its gains to trade even at [...]
Copper losses pull other metals prices lower
by Elaine Frei
Copper prices were lower Friday, triggering a decline in other base metals prices, while most precious metals prices were also down on the session.
December copper was 17 cents lower to $3.10 per pound in New York, while three-month copper was down $326 to $6,900 per tonne in London on demand worries caused by gains in [...]
Xstrata increases stake in Indophil
by Gill Montia
Xstrata has announced that it has increased its stake in Indophil Resources to 19.99%, via its Xstrata Queensland Limited subsidiary.
Indophil Resources is an Australian-listed copper exploration company which holds an interest in the Tampakan copper deposit in the southern Philippines.
The project is 62.5% owned by Xstrata Copper while Indophil owns 34.2%, plus a right to [...]