LME base metals drop with global equities markets

London Metal Exchange base metals sank further Thursday as investors pulled risky assets like commodities on rising fears of a global credit crunch. LME zinc fell 4% as commodity trade advisors took profits, while aluminium touched a three-week low. CTA selling also brought lead down to earth with a bang, now down 12% from last week's record high. LME copper added modestly to recent losses, down 3% on the week, however LME tin stood its ground, the only metal to finish up, by 1.5%. LME nickel was pressured by another hefty rise in stocks, with $30,000/ton in view. Widening credit-market worries and surging oil prices forced global stocks lower on Thursday with the Dow Jones Industrial Index down over 200 points and the FTSE down 3.5%. Mixed U.S. economic data came out at Thursday with durable goods data "weak," distorted to the upside by aircraft, said an analyst, while U.S. jobless figures fell, not rose as expected, suggesting the U.S. economy remains robust. But more poor U.S. housing data only underlined sub-prime mortgage worries, exacerbating jittery market conditions. Considering recent uptrend and the amount of speculative funds in the market, analysts said, Thursday's slide wasn't surprising with further losses likely. In news, The Andina division of state copper giant Corporacion Nacional del Cobre lost 500 kilos of copper concentrates after a train carrying the concentrates was sabotaged, the mining company said Thursday. Talks between Codelco, contracting companies and striking contract workers, the latter estimated at around 10,000, remain deadlocked. Also, total world aluminium inventories in June 2007 fell by 90,000 metric tons to 2.799 million metric tons, from a revised 2.889 million tons in May, according to figures released Thursday by the International Aluminum Institute. June's figure was down 200,000 tons from the June 2006 production figure of 2.999 million tons. Prices in dollar a metric ton. 3 Months Metal Bid-Ask Change from Wednesday PM kerb Copper 7760.0-7765.0 Dn 17 Lead 3080.0-3081.0 Dn 95 Zinc 3495.0-3499.0 Dn 136 Aluminium 2736.0-2736.0 Dn 33 Nickel 31100.0-31200.0 Dn 250 Tin 15495.0-15500.0 Dn 295