(Adds comment, updates prices)
By Tom Daly
BEIJING, May 4 (Reuters) - London base metal prices rose on
Friday, led by aluminium, as they staged a technical recovery
following steep falls for aluminium, zinc and nickel in the
previous session.
Aluminium climbed by as much as 1.9 percent, having fallen
by 2.3 percent in the previous session.
"The market remains jumpy and rarely displaying a consistent
tone during any 24-hour period let alone a trend lasting more
than two days," Matt France, head of institutional metal sales,
Asia, at brokerage Marex Spectron, wrote in a note.
"I still feel there is some value in the metals here but a
lot hinges on how the equity markets and (U.S. dollar) performs
into the weekend," he added.
Markets are also awaiting the outcome of trade talks between
China and the United States in Beijing that end on Friday.
A trade spat between the two countries has roiled metals
markets in recent months, with the United States imposing
tariffs on aluminium imports, and China retaliating by targeting
U.S. aluminium scrap.
FUNDAMENTALS
* ALUMINIUM: Three-month aluminium on the London Metal
Exchange rose 1.9 percent to $2,311 a tonne by 0550 GMT.
The metal is on course for a 4 percent weekly rise after falling
nearly 10 percent last week. Shanghai aluminium closed
up 0.3 percent at 14,575 yuan ($2,294.81) a tonne on Friday.
* COPPER: Three-month LME copper climbed 0.6 percent
to $6,865 a tonne and is up 0.9 percent for the week. The most
traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange
ended up 0.6 percent at 51,290 yuan a tonne.
* ZINC: Zinc rebounded slightly from Thursday's 1.3
percent drop to trade 0.1 percent higher in London but closed
down 1.8 percent in Shanghai. The zinc industry agreed
a 15 percent drop in annual zinc processing fees to $147 a
tonne, miner and metals smelting company Nyrstar said
on Thursday.
* SCRAP: The company in charge of inspecting scrap metal
shipments from the United States bound for China said that it
would suspend checks on shipments for one month starting on
Friday, effectively halting China's imports.
* INTERNATIONALISATION: China plans to open more of its
futures contracts to foreign investors, its securities regulator
said on Friday, as the country launched its "internationalised"
iron ore contract in a bid to boost its sway over pricing for
one of its top imports.
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or
MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares were steady while the Japanese yen held onto
overnight gains in early trading on Friday as financial markets
turned their attention to the looming U.S. payrolls data for
fresh catalysts.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0750 France Markit services PMI Apr
0755 Germany Markit services PMI Apr
0800 Euro zone Markit services PMI final Apr
0900 Euro zone Retail sales Mar
1230 U.S. Nonfarm payrolls Apr
1230 U.S. Unemployment rate Apr
PRICES
0707 GMT
Three month LME copper 6850.5
Most active ShFE copper 51290
Three month LME 2309
aluminium
Most active ShFE 14565
aluminium
Three month LME zinc 3011.5
Most active ShFE zinc 23300
Three month LME lead 2272
Most active ShFE lead 18545
Three month LME nickel 13860
Most active ShFE nickel 103910
Three month LME tin 21210
Most active ShFE tin 147780
LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 723.86
LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -2313.54
LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 433.78
LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 668.34
LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 -354.81
($1 = 6.3513 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Richard Pullin and Christian
Schmollinger)