Base Metal Prices Fall

Base metals prices fell on Wednesday, led by Shanghai aluminum, which touched a six-week low, as investors fretted over liquidity in China and awaited news from the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, Reuters reported. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates at its meeting. Higher rates usually cause the dollar to strengthen, which would make dollar-denominated metals more expensive for holders of other currencies and could weigh on prices. China’s total social financing, a broad measure of credit and liquidity in the economy, dropped sharply to 760.8 billion yuan ($118.80 billion) in May from 1.56 trillion yuan in April, central bank data showed on Tuesday. The most-traded August aluminum contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 1.2% at 14,720 yuan ($2,298.96) a ton by the mid-session interval, having earlier touched 14,570 yuan, its lowest since May 2. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.6% to $7,181 a ton, trading lower for a fourth straight session, while Shanghai copper shed 0.9% to 53,490 yuan a ton.