Industrial Metals Mixed Ahead of U.S. Fed's Policy Update

Industrial metals were mixed ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy update on monetary policy and as China’s annual parliament meeting finishes. Aluminum rose from its lowest in nearly a month as copper fell.

Aluminum, the light metal used to produce everything from aircraft to window frames, rose 0.2 percent to $1,523.5 a metric ton as of 9:31 a.m. in Shanghai. It fell to $1,520 at Tuesday’s close, the lowest level since Feb. 18. Nickel rose 0.6 percent.

Base metals fluctuated in past weeks as stimulus efforts from Japan and Europe received a mixed reception from financial markets. Investors are starting to hearken back to the global Volatility Volatility In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Traders In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Traders Read this Term that marked the start of the year’s trading. The Fed, which is expected to clarify where it stands on U.S. interest rates due later Wednesday, will be followed by a Bank of England review on Thursday. China’s National People’s Congress ends Wednesday.

Copper in London fell 0.3 percent. Morgan Stanley cut its average copper price estimate by 3 percent to $5,071 a ton for this year, citing the uncertain global macroeconomic environment. China’s policy easing in recent months has boosted industry confidence in copper, the investment bank said in an e-mailed note.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Alfred Cang in Shanghai at acang@bloomberg.net, Winnie Zhu in Singapore at wzhu4@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jason Rogers at jrogers73@bloomberg.net, Rebecca Keenan, Iain Wilson

By: Bloomberg News

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