Data hurts base metals prices

Prices for base metals fell Thursday on the news that machinery orders in Japan were down 16.2 percent in November over October, more than twice the anticipated decline.

The drop in orders emphasized concerns that demand for industrial metals are likely to continue to fall.

The news that manufacturing in the Philadelphia region of the United States contracted again in January and new data from China which indicated that copper and aluminium demand there is still deteriorating also contributed to price declines.

March copper was down 3 cents to $1.45 per pound in afternoon trade in New York, while three-month copper dropped $76 to $3,210 per tonne in afternoon trade in London.

Copper inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses added 5,175 tonnes on the session to 387,325 tonnes.

At the same time, the price of aluminium in London dropped $25 to $1,470 per tonne as prices for other metals used in industry also declined.

Among precious metals, February gold was down $3.60 to $805.20 per troy ounce in afternoon trade in New York while March silver fell 3 cents to $10.45 per troy ounce and April platinum was $13.60 lower to $922.50 per troy ounce.