Daily FNArena News - Commodities

Copper prices traded at a five month high last week but industry players remain sceptical

Beware June-July seasonal weakness.

We’re not there yet, but better times should be ahead for producers of long steel products, predicts industry researcher MEPS.

Industry consultant TradeTech has further lowered its spot price indicator for uranium.

According to Resource Capital Research while spot uranium prices are under pressure the long-term outlook remains solid as increasing capacity will continue to spur demand.

Record surpluses and excess capacity at a time of weak demand are likely to keep a lid on aluminium prices, with only a modest recovery expected in coming years.

Despite no transactions, the uranium spot price nudged a little lower as speculative demand increases.

Standard Chartered suggests the Chinese stimulus package will help but won’t push commodity prices significantly higher, though there are still opportunities in the sector according to Deutsche Bank.

Barclays Capital sees nothing in the market at present to cause a shift from its view the bearish trend for natural gas remains in place.

Oil prices are tracking recent equity market rises, gaining support from traditional supply/demand fundamentals, at least for now.