Metals are expected to slide further down after a weak session on Monday as the outlook for Japan is under review by rating agency Moody. Moody said that it has put the Japan bond ratings under review after the disastrous earthquake in March. No major news was reported from the US yesterday, but Dollar moved up settling at 1.4284 against 1.4321 against the EURO on Friday. In Euro zone, the tensions persisted relating to overcome the crisis of Greece. Adding woes further was the data from Euro zone PMI. Markit showed that Eurozone retail sales contracted for the first time in three months in May. The PMI fell to 48.8 in May from 52.2 in April. This was the lowest figure since October 2010. In Germany, the retail sales dropped to 51.1 from 54.6 in April. In France, retail PMI came in at 51.7, down from 56.3 in April. Base metals had an awful start to the week, with majors like Copper and Nickel softening and settling lower. Metals like Aluminium were also on sellers reach and ended down 0.8% to Rs. 118.2 per kg. Copper June expiry contract closed at Rs. 415.7 per kg, down Rs. 2 or 0.5%. Nickel far month contract closed at Rs. 1041 per kg, down 1.1%. In COMEX, Tuesday's trades are weak for Copper with prices at $ 4.16 per pound, down 2 cents. In Shanghai, the prices of Copper are sideways trading at 68380 yuan per tonne, up 60 yuan. Aluminium August expiry is at 16805 per tonne, up 50 yuan.

Source