Reuters Review (12-17)

LME Market: The London Metal Exchange (LME) zinc futures reached a five-year high driven by fund buying on Friday, with most other metals holding steady or rising. One trader said, "The zinc performance is outstanding. The fund will push it towards Astronomical prices may increase to 1,400 US dollars in the next six months or even faster." Three-month zinc rose to 1,299.50 US dollars per ton, which is higher since January 2000. It closed at 1,224 yuan, up 16 dollars. It is expected to target the 1,225/30 resistance level, followed by the 1,250/55 region. Barclays Capital stated in its research report that zinc is expected to become the better performing metal in 2005, referring to “as China becomes a net importer of zinc, Zinc fundamentals will be greatly improved. "Barclays Capital set its 2005 LME spot zinc price target at $1,400/ton, which is 25.2% higher than the current level. This view was supported by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which was called 2006. At the end of the year zinc inventories will be reduced by 500,000 tons. Traders said that as the holiday season approaches, LME volume will gradually decrease, but volatility may increase. A trader said, "We may see larger speculation in the coming weeks. The guest tried to manipulate the year-end closing level." **Only the period tin Downslides Nickel rose by 275 U.S. dollars to 13,550 U.S. dollars per tonne. Nickel inventories increased by 258 tons to 19,632, which is higher since January. The three-month lead contract finished at 930 U.S. dollars per tonne. However, the three-month period Tin fell by 25 U.S. dollars to 8,775 U.S. dollars. LME copper: Three-month copper rose by 11 U.S. dollars to 3,033 per tonne, maintaining a steady increase this week. Traders said that "depending on the previous quarter, copper may rise again to October." It hit a high of 3,175, but that would be the next wave of bullishness." LME Aluminium: Three-month aluminum is unchanged at $1,833 per ton, COMEX Copper: Copper futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (COMEX) Friday. High, market players are looking for clues to the copper trend from the dollar downtrend. Traders said that the fundamentals mostly provide reasons for the rise in copper prices, so when the market has no other direction, copper prices tend to rise. Indicator March 2005 period Approximately 0.95 cents higher was reported at 1.3995 US dollars per pound, intraday trading range was 1.3820-1.40. December spot copper rose by 0.65 cents to end at 1.4725 US dollars per pound on the spot month. The remaining monthly rise was approximately 0.80 to 1.05 US dollars. The copper trading volume is estimated at 8,000, down from 12,280 on Thursday. Said, “The volume has decreased and then decreased since the beginning of the month. I think the volume will fall to a lower level before next week because market participants leave the market due to holidays.” One trader believes that this is not to say that the market will fluctuate. Do not develop. On the contrary, due to the lack of trading volume, the market will fluctuate significantly.