- Base metals sprung off earlier lows during LME open-outcry trading on Friday but there was little buying support even as the dollar weakened while traders remain cautious ahead of next week's Fed meeting. - Given the extent of the greenback's decline yesterday, some analysts expressed surprise that commodities did not perform better as a result. "We have to assume that funds are not piling back into the asset class as they likely are 'hunkering down' ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting next week," MF Global analyst Ed Meir said. - Copper traded at $8,210 per tonne after hitting a low of $8,140 earlier, while aluminium traded at $2,323. Lead and zinc reversed the gains from earlier in the week following the recent Chinese smelter closure, trading at $2,445 and $2,415 respectively. - "In relative terms we believe lead should benefit more from smelter closures than zinc. We estimate the lead market to be in a deficit this year (41,000 tonnes) and next (67,000 tonnes), while the zinc market should still see a sizable surplus (95,000 tonnes) next year," Standard Bank analyst Leon Westgate said. - The dollar traded at $1.3854 against the euro - economists expect anywhere from $250 billion to $2 trillion worth of quantitative easing stimulus measures from next week's Fed meeting. Later this afternoon, traders will be watching for a slew of data out of the US, including Chicago PI, GDP, and Michigan sentiment figures.

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