Copper hits the big time at LME

Sat, 14 Jan 2017 09:37:54 +0000

COPPER is back in the big league on the London Metal Exchange and has leapt to US$5,816.00 a tonne – and was slowly edging towards the magical US$6,000 mark.

According to Cavmont Bank Zambia daily market report, the red metal appreciated by US$67.50, from the US$5,241.5 a tonne trade at end of business on Thursday.

During the same business trading session, prices for Brent crude oil equally went up by US$2.18, resulting in a barrel trading at US$56.10.

Prices of gold also registered an increase of US$13.90, making an ounce currently trade at US$1,202.00.

On the exchange rate market, the Kwacha continued its bullish run against the dollar on Thursday, as it touched an intra-day high of K9.910 / K9.960 after opening at K10.030 / K10.080.

The bank reports that the local currency tracked other emerging market currencies such as the South African rand which also gained against the greenback.

The gains for the local currency came on the back drop of increased supply from corporate sellers who were looking to settle mid-month statutory obligations.

The Kwacha closed at K9.930 / K9.980, K0.1 stronger than the day’s opening levels.

And commercial banks’ aggregate current account balance decreased by K83.87 million to K2,246.14 million while the overnight borrowing and lending rate remained unchanged at 16.12 percent.

Total funds therefore traded on Interbank were K131.50 million.