LONDON (Commdity Online): Most base metals, which were bolstered Friday by a strong U.S. jobs report, are now on the defensive. The euro and U.S. stock-index futures are also lower, said FCStone in a research note.
“Once again, the Greek negotiations--which were supposed to be wrapped up some two weeks ago--are testing the patience of investors, as they head into a third week. Over the weekend, eurozone finance ministers told the Greeks they could not go ahead with an agreed deal to restructure their bonds until the Greek government guaranteed it would pass necessary reform legislation.” FCStone added.
Markets do seem to sense that some sort of deal will finally emerge, which is why the retreat so far is modest.
“One danger in all this is that the longer the issue drags on, the harder it will be to reassure the markets that progress is being made. More importantly, time is also of the essence, as there remains a lot of technical work that needs to be done between now and March 19th, when the Greeks need to make their next round of bond payments,” FCStone continued.
As of Meir’s daily report, LME copper was down $120 to $8,445 a metric ton and aluminum was $34 lower to $2,213. Zinc, lead and nickel were also softer, although tin managed a gain.
