The base metals came under a bit of pressure during Wednesday afternoon but have generally continued to perform well consolidating after their recent gains. This morning saw the has metals resume their ascent on the back of further dollar weakness however a brief but aggressive sell off in gold following reports that Anglogold Ashanti had completed the elimination of its gold hedge book spilled over into the base metals as dealers reacted to gold s move. Prices have since stabilized picking back up heading into the afternoon though the less liquid base metals have struggled a to regain their lost ground with shorts perhaps using the sell of to help pressure the metals. With the metals regaining their composure and the dollar remaining weak baring a bad day for the equity markets prices look set to continue to push higher this afternoon.
Elsewhere the macroeconomic data has so far been pretty solid with German Industrial Production coming in higher than expected at 1.7%. The BOE kept rates unchanged as expected though a standoff over further stimulus measures has seen sterling strengthen. The ECB announcement and accompanying statement will be out in the early afternoon. US initial jobless claims will be unlikely to have an impact on the market unless they are markedly out of line with expectations with the focus instead on tomorrow s Nonfarm payroll numbers. Copper turnover has started poorly once again with the initial rally then gold related wobble occurring amid pretty thin volumes. After the late morning sell off prices are heading back towards $8 300 on the approach to US trade. Inventory wise on warrant LME stocks fell by 3 925 mt this morning following a 3 450 mt increase in cancelled warrants in New Orleans.
