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***MEIR ON METALS: Metals down slightly as markets wait for stress test results

July 23, 2010 - 14:25 GMT

KEYWORDS: Meir

Analyst Ed Meir looks at what’s moving the metal markets on Friday

Copper and General Commentary: Copper is now at $7,005 per tonne, down $4, but we did close at two-month highs on Thursday, as did lead and zinc. A number of factors were behind Thursday’s solid advance, including a surprising recovery in the US stock market, weather concerns in the Gulf of Mexico that fuelled the energy complex, and constructive macro releases out of both Europe and the US. Of the three, the recovery in the US equity market was perhaps the most dominant variable, as the magnitude of the rally must have caught shorts flat-footed, particularly after Wednesday's dramatic sell-off. It seems that equity investors staged an "about-face" after refocusing on a slew of relatively decent earnings reports. In this respect, Dow component Caterpillar reported higher sales and earnings due to better sales of mining and infrastructure equipment, while fellow component 3M also said that 2010 profits will exceed earlier...

All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

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