On Thursday, the oil price fell by nearly 1.5 percent and virtually erased Wednesday’s gains although the situation in the
physical market continued to tighten, according to agency news. This is quite interesting with respect to the fact that
refinery margins in Northwest Europe have been steadily falling since mid November. Recent tightness might be probably
attributed to stocks hoarding ahead of the year-end holidays.
Today in early trading, February contract on Brent (as of Monday the front-month contract) edges higher on positive data from China – HSBC flash PMI for December slightly improved in comparison with November and thus remains above the key 50 points level.
Base Metals
Today, base metal prices draw some support from slightly better prospects of China’s economy - China’s manufacturing
sector picked up in December with improvements seen in new orders and employment underlining a brighter outlook for
the economy in the coming months. The flash HSBC manufacturing PMI rose to 50.9, a 14-month high and the fifth
consecutive monthly gain.
As a result, three-month aluminium contract (LME) is hovering at resistance at 2125 USD per ton (USD/t) while the price of copper is seen at 8092 USD/t.