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☆ FTSE 100 at three-month highs on hopes of China easing COVID curbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) was up 0.6%, hitting its highest since Aug. 26, while the domestically-focused FTSE 250 midcap index (.FTMC) was flat. World markets were rattled on Monday as protests against strict COVID-19 restrictions flared up in major Chinese cities over the weekend. Base metal miners (.FTNMX551020) climbed 2.8%, touching three-month highs, as prices rebounded on support for the property sector in top metals consumer China. Heavyweight energy stocks (.FTNMX601010) rose 1.4% as oil prices climbed on hopes of China easing its COVID controls. Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Two words investors need to follow to find stocks to ride this comeback — 'Old School'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 4.9% in November, outperforming the other major averages. MKM chief market technician JC O'Hara said in a note to clients on Sunday that "old school leadership" is here to stay. "If this old index can continue to push higher and deeper into overbought territory, that will help break the S & P 500 out." One way for investors to play this trend is ETFs of old-school stocks, including the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) . The fund tracks the 30 stocks in the Dow Average, with an expense ratio of 0.16%, or $1.60 for every $1,000 invested.

☆ FTSE 100 slides as weaker commodity prices weigh
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SummarySummary Companies FTSE 100 down 0.3%, FTSE 250 off 0.3%Nov 21 (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 slipped on Monday, dragged by weakness in commodity-linked stocks, as COVID-19 curbs in top metals consumer China and a stronger dollar weighed on the global mood. The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) fell 0.3%, after notching its strongest close in over two months on Friday. UK's energy sector (.FTNMX601010) slipped 0.6% on the back of falling oil prices , as a slew of COVID-related curbs in China sparked demand fears. Meanwhile, industrial metal miners (.FTNMX551020) shed 1.8% as worries about slowing demand from the world's second largest economy hit metal prices including those of copper. Energy and materials stocks combined weigh more than 25% on the FTSE 100.

LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel trading has turned wild again this week. LME and ShFE nickel contracts price and volumeVOLATILITY TRAPThe fund exodus after March has left a liquidity vacuum and a self-reinforcing volatility trap in the nickel market. ("A financially constrained physical market", April 3, 2022)LME nickel trading volumes have fallen steeply since March. Year-to-date nickel volumes are 24% below last year's equivalent period, the scale of decline flattered by strong trading activity in January and February. But until inventory and volumes rebuild, time-spread turbulence and perma-backwardation are becoming the new normal in the Shanghai market.

LONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) has announced it will continue accepting Russian metal as good delivery against its industrial metal contracts, for now at least. Absent formal government sanctions against Russian aluminium, copper and nickel, everything depends on how many players choose not to take Russian metal in their 2023 supply contracts. The LME's discussion paper on the acceptability of Russian metal has revealed just how split the global industry is on the question right now. Two favoured thresholds for Russian metal, an option deemed too complex, and one abstained from making a choice. The company is a major producer of the Class I refined nickel that is deliverable against the LME nickel contract.

☆ Want to play rising copper prices? Analysts give these 2 stocks more than 200% upside
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Copper is having a good month, with both prices and mining stocks trading well in the green. Benchmark copper prices on the London Metal Exchange jumped over 7% last week on hopes that Covid restrictions in China would soon be lifted, although prices have since pared gains. Still, falling inventories and fresh disruptions at the world's second-largest copper producer in Peru continue to support prices. Against this backdrop, CNBC Pro screened the Global X Copper Miners ETF on FactSet for stocks that analysts expect to outperform, using the following criteria: Upside to average price target of at least 15%. Analysts covering the stock put its upside at nearly 19%, and 77% give it a buy rating, according to FactSet.

☆ Zimbabwe's new mineral royalty policy comes into force
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A worker attends to machinery at a smelter plant at Anglo American Platinum's Unki mine in Shurugwi, Zimbabwe, May 16, 2019. The southern African country has struggled to capitalise on its significant mineral reserves and a resource boom due to policy uncertainty, a lack of ancillary industries to support mining, currency volatility and electricity shortages. The cash component of the royalties would be made up of 40% Zimbabwean dollars and 10% in foreign currency, according to the notice. Zimbabwe's royalty rates range between 5% for gold and platinum group metals and 10% for diamonds. The Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines, which represents major mining companies, has said it is not worried about the new royalty policy because it does not amount to an increase in existing royalty rates.

The status of Russian metal has been a key talking-point at the many seminars and parties this week in London. Should the LME suspend deliveries of Russian aluminium, copper and nickel or should it maintain its policy of not preempting official sanctions? German copper producer Aurubis (NAFG.DE) has joined U.S. aluminium producer Alcoa (AA.N) in publicly calling for an LME ban on Russian metal. There is a lot of metal supply at stake here. An LME ban on deliveries of Russian metal would clearly have significant ramifications for both LME and physical market pricing.

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - It's not the first time the 145-year-old London Metal Exchange (LME) has found itself in crisis. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterMarch brought Nickel Crisis II, a much scarier update of the original, and now we have the unfolding Russian Metal Crisis. It's perilous legal territory and would have a significant impact on LME price and physical premiums. Meanwhile, CME's (CME.O) cobalt contract has steadily built up liquidity since its end-2020 launch even as activity in the LME's contract has steadily dwindled. Disgruntled funds have already voted with their feet, the collective departure causing LME trading volumes to slide by 6% over the first nine months of this year.

ShFE stocks, bonded warehouse stocks and Yangshan premiumSHANGHAI SQUEEZEThe ShFE copper contract has been characterised by low inventory and rolling tightness for some time. It is probable that troubled trade house Maike Group is also somehow in the Shanghai copper cocktail right now. LONDON'S RUSSIAN DILEMMAChina's strong call on copper is being felt in London, where falling LME stocks have rekindled time-spread volatility. The micro-macro divergence looks set to accentuate as LME stocks are stripped for shipment to China. Over 60% of LME copper stocks at the end of September were Russian metal.

☆ Rio Tinto tempers annual iron ore shipments outlook as demand weakens
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), (RIO.L) on Tuesday forecast annual iron ore shipments at the lower end of its outlook after third-quarter iron ore deliveries fell amid weak global demand, particularly in top metals consumer China. read moreWeakness in prices and cooling China demand had led Rio to more than halve its interim dividend payout in July. The world's biggest iron ore producer shipped 82.9 million tonnes (Mt) of the steel-making commodity in the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with 83.4 Mt a year earlier. The company retained its annual cost outlook for iron ore, but raised estimates for copper to between 150 cents and 170 cents per pound from 130 cents to 150 cents a pound. Rio last month said it would team up with China Baowu Steel Group to develop an iron ore project in Western Australia for $2 billion.

LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - European copper buyers are going to be paying a lot more to get their metal next year. Aurubis (NAFG.DE) cited a combination of high freight and power costs and low visible copper stocks. European annual copper premiumsSANCTIONS CREEPThere were no official sanctions on Russian copper until earlier this month, when the British government announced an asset freeze on Iskander Makhmudov. ASIAN DISCOUNTWhat will happen to all the Russian copper if Europe stages a collective boycott? The sharp hike in next year's European premiums says much about the cost of refusing Russian metal.

Annual supply contracts are in the process of being negotiated and at least some buyers are "self-sanctioning" by specifying no Russian metal in 2023. LME stocks and percentage of Russian metalCOPPER FLOWSThe proportion of Russian copper in LME stocks was actually higher in the third quarter of 2021, when it reached 95% of live tonnage, LME data shows. With just Nornickel still fully unsanctioned, the amount of potentially deliverable Russian copper is sharply reduced. Moreover, there is an obvious destination for any unsold Russian copper next year. The three options are to do nothing, set thresholds for Russian metal deliveries or suspend all warranting across all locations.

Indonesian nickel production by mine and productPOWERING UPIndonesia's nickel boom reflects both the country's rich mineral resources and the government's drive to push miners down the value-add processing chain. China's imports of nickel by product 2020-2022PRICING DOWNThis Indonesian supply surge was widely expected, but its exact timing was fuzzy given the number of new processing routes being used to convert ore to battery nickel. The combination of European demand shock, Indonesian production burst and the closing of the processing gap between stainless and battery nickel means there "is close to 30% downside for the nickel price into year-end". This mismatch of market-place and market is one of the reasons the LME nickel contract melted down in March. Macquarie Bank now provides three different nickel price forecasts for LME refined metal, Chinese nickel pig iron and Chinese nickel sulphate.

REUTERS/Kham/File PhotoLONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - While the rest of the world worries about recession, China is steadily increasing its imports of physical copper. The country's net call on refined copper from the rest of the world was up by 9.8% in the first eight months of the year. China's imports of copper scrapSCRAP AND CONCENTRATES IMPORTS UPThe restocking momentum is also travelling down copper raw materials import channels. GREEN DEMAND DRIVERChina's copper import hunger appears unsated. The sign-posting of more government investment in decarbonisation is a major reason for China's copper buyers to feel confident about restocking physical units at current price levels.

Another key alumina supply channel was shut off by the closure, also in March, of the Nikolaev refinery in Ukraine. CONTINUED METAL FLOWSCertainly, the flow of Russian metal into Western markets has been robust since march. That extreme premium sucked in every spare unit of aluminium, including a lot of surplus Russian metal. A partial boycott will coincide with increased Russian supply as Rusal's domestic market weakens further under the broader economic sanctions package. You can understand why the aluminium market is starting to worry about the prospect of large volumes of unsold Russian metal being dumped into LME warehouses.

LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses saw 11,200 tonnes of copper arrivals on Tuesday, the largest single-day warranting since June. LME inventory remains ultra-low by any historical yardstick, representing just two days' worth of global usage. At their peak of 175,000 tonnes in February last year they dwarfed registered LME copper inventory of 74,000 tonnes. Registered exchange stocks combined with LME shadow and INE bonded stocks represent the total statistically verifiable copper inventory landscape. Global Copper stocks, including LME Shadow and INE bonded...WHAT YOU CAN'T SEEThere is obviously more copper "out there" in the statistical dark.

REUTERS/Alexandre MeneghiniLONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The puzzle facing the zinc market is whether demand or supply will fall hardest this year. LME zinc fund net positioningLOW STOCKSThe outright price is falling despite low exchange inventory. Fastmarkets assessments of Antwerp and Italy premiumsSUPPLY HITEurope is at the epicentre of the global zinc supply hit as smelters struggle to cope with soaring power prices. SHIFTING BALANCEZinc's micro dynamics are shifting fast and at the moment it seems that the demand hit is outpacing the supply hit. It's the demand outlook that's weighing on the outright zinc price.

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