Base Metals and Minerals

Markets took a breather last night after global PMIs painted a less than rosy picture. Dow down 25.

Barclays Capital’s analysis of seasonal trends shows December tends to be a good month for equities and fixed interest markets but more mixed for currencies and commodities.

Global growth uncertainty and the ongoing European debt crisis have impacted on commodity markets and lead National Australia Bank to forecast weaker prices in 2012.

Chartists see this rally in equities markets lasting into the new year, but the overall outlook hasn’t fundamentally changed (at least not from a technical point of view).

Skyrocketing prices have taken their toll on rare earth demand even as supply growth crawls. End-users are going to extraordinary lengths to withdraw from global mispricing in which China holds 94% of the cards.

The world’s major central banks announced last night they would open swap lines to provide cheap dollar funding for Europe’s troubled banks. Dow up 490.

A surprising jump in US consumer confidence helped Wall Street to another up day. Dow up 32.

FNArena’s weekly update on short positions in the Australian share market.

Talk of a tighter fiscal union in Europe helped end a seven-session losing streak on Wall Street last night, while retail sales saw a boost. Dow up 291.

Weekly update on recommendation, target price, and earnings forecast changes.