London 17/05/2016 - Base metals were largely rangebound during Tuesday LME trading, with some stability seen from strength in other commodities.
But this was not enough to trigger significant directional moves, traders said.
"The market is managing to put in a reasonable show - it doesn't want to sell off but there is not a lot of real fundamental stuff to get it going. In the bigger picture the forthcoming Fed [meeting] may deter interest," a floor trader said.
Otherwise, a batch of mostly positive US economic figures kept prices off their lows, some said.
"There isn't much going on and we don't think the markets are moving too far from these ranges right now. The data was OK and oil is holding up - so a bit of a floor on the dips," a floor trader said.
In the data, the April core CPI rose 0.2 percent as expected. Housing starts were better than expected at an annualised 1.17 million units but building permits undershot at 1.12 million. Still, industrial production was up 0.7 percent - a 0.3-percent increase had been forecast.
Earlier, the EU trade balance undershot at 22.3 billion euros.
Crude oil, meanwhile, was back above $49, basis spot Brent. It was trading around $49.35 per barrel, close to six-month highs, while the dollar dipped to some 1.1340 against the euro.
In the metals, copper held comfortably above $4,600 in mid-afternoon before closing at $4,655 per tonne, up $5 on Monday's close.
Earlier, warehouse stocks fell a net 2,275 tonnes to 156,750 tonnes due predominantly to declines in Singapore. Cancelled warrants were also lower, again a move centred on Singapore. Cancellations fell a net 2,325 tonnes to 32,000 tonnes.
Aluminium dropped slightly to $1,545, a $4 loss. Today stocks declined 2,050 tonnes to 2,575,275 tonnes and cancelled warrants jumped 6,925 tonnes to 1,061,200 tonnes - there were fresh cancellations of 8,925 tonnes in Vlissingen.
Lead wandered lower to finish at $1,722, down $16. This morning, warrant holding data showed there is one holder across all three reported positions in the 50-79-percent bracket. Stocks and cancelled warrants were both 175 tonnes lower at 175,650 tonnes and 75,400 tonnes respectively.
In others, zinc was last at $1,904, up $3. Inventories fell 575 tonnes to 389,475 tonnes although ample material remains off-warrant in non-LME sheds, it is believed.
Tin moved up to end at $16,960, a $55 advance - stocks fell just 10 tonnes to 6,510 tonnes. The tightness in spreads has collapsed, with the backwardation at just $6.50 for cash/threes, having been more than $170 earlier this year.
Nickel climbed $80 to $8,800; stocks dropped 606 tonnes to 405,858 tonnes. Steel was indicated at $65/115, cobalt at $23,000/23,500 and molybdenum at $14,800/15,300.
(Additional reporting by Kathleen Retourne, editing by Mark Shaw)