Escalating tensions with respect to euro zone debt crisis, slowdown in China’s economy and rising uncertainty over global economic growth exerted downside pressure on the base metal prices last week. Weak sentiments in the global markets also acted as a negative factor for prices. Weakness in the US dollar did not provide any respite to the metal prices. However, depreciation in the Indian currency cushioned sharp decline on the domestic bourses. Lead Lead has been the worst performer in the last week, as the metal dropped more than 5 percent on the LME and around 2.7 percent on the MCX. Sharp rise in the metal inventories and weak sentiments in the global markets acted as a negative factor for prices. On a week-on-week basis, lead inventories rose sharply by around 1.7 percent to 372,875 tonnes on the LME warehouses in the last week. Lead touched a low of $1979/tonne and ended its trading session at the level of $2005/tonne last week. On a weekly basis, MCX Lead March contract touched a low of Rs101.80/kg and closed at the level of Rs102.7/kg.

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