Base Metals and Minerals

Wall Street again looked at local data and earnings for solace to post a slight gain despite protest deaths in Bahrain and Libya. Dow up 29.

Wall Street was back in buying mode last night on earnings and data, ignoring a provocative move from Iran. Dow up 61.

Some scientists believe there exist longer scale wet/dry cycles which overlay the shorter El Nino/La Nina cycles and that we may have just come out of a decades of dry and into decades of wet. This could mean more “Brisbanes” over the next twenty plus years.

Stocks and commodities eased back last night after a good run with US data sufficient as an excuse. Dow down 41.

A glance through the latest expert views and predictions about commodities with positive fundamentals identified in thermal coal and fertiliser markets, short-term support for iron ore and palladium and alumina prices tipped to forecast to go higher.

It was a flat session on Wall Street but the S&P closed at 1332 compared to 666 in March 2009. (Locked for subscribers until 10:00 AEDST)

Ahead of the herd’s Rick Mills believes investors should put lithium on their radar.

Wrap of events affecting the market on Friday night and the weekend and a preview of the week ahead.

Technical analysts at Barclays warn investor sentiment towards base metals is in extreme territory again.

Wall Street shrugged off renewed anger in Egypt and a return to European debt concerns last night and quickly recovered lost ground. Dow down 10 but the S&P closed in the green. (Locked for subscribers until 10:00 AEDST)