London 07/07/2016 - Base metals headed back to the lower end of their ranges during late-Thursday LME trading, with copper touching two-week lows against a backdrop of day-trade liquidation and a steadier dollar.
But the moves were not extreme and turnovers were not as high as in recent sessions - the more comfortable tone matches wider financial markets where post-Brexit turbulence has eased temporarily.
"For the first time for a little while it has been one of those days that are more like a typical summer session. There hasn't been great volume and the ranges have been unexciting. It won't last as the Brexit factor is going to be with us for quite a while," a floor trader said.
General risk-off sentiment has also kept many participants sidelined while the market looks for further direction, with tomorrow's US jobs report on the radar.
"The market is just a tad down but there isn't much pressure coming through and that is probably because the systems business has found a level where big moves are not being set off," another trader said.
For now, with global equity markets relatively stable - the FTSE was up one percent - gold off its safe-haven highs and sterling holding above 31-year lows, the short-term driver of financial markets may well be the reaction to Friday's US non-farm payrolls report for last month.
Ahead of this in the usual precursors, the private-sector ADP report showed 172,000 jobs were created last month against a forecast 158,000. Regular weekly jobless claims were 254,000, better than a predicted 269,000.
Overnight, the Federal Reserve's June meeting minutes showed that most Fed members were cautious about adjusting rates following poor US labour data and the UK referendum.
In the metals, copper, which for most of the day was in a tight $50 range, broke under $4,700 towards the close and ended at $4,685 per tonne, an $85 loss from Wednesday.
The market has now dropped below its 200-day moving average, which could prompt technical selling, participants said.
Warehouse stocks dropped a net 1,825 tonnes to 220,725 tonnes, ending a run of big increases. Earlier this week, around 34,000 tonnes of material was delivered into LME sheds in Asia.
Aluminium drifted in late business and finished at $1,638, a $15 loss - earlier stocks 5,925 tonnes to 2,357,025 tonnes, a fresh low since January 2009.
Cancelled warrants jumped 15,300 tonnes to 1,009,825 tonnes, pressuring on-warrant material to 1,347,200 tonnes - also a multi-year low. The bulk of today’s cancellations were at Port Klang, rising 12,550 tonnes to 22,175 tonnes. The Trieste total climbed 8,450 tonnes to 8,450 tonnes.
Nickel closed $220 lower at $9,750. It had surged to more than $10,400 at the start of the week amid fears that the new government in the Philippines could shut mines due to environmental concerns.
Reports circulated this afternoon that the country ordered the suspension of operations at two nickel ore mines for environmental violations and halted the issuance of exploration permits
LME stocks, meanwhile, rose 636 tonnes to 378,264 tonnes.
In others, zinc was down $8 at $2,098 - there were 950-tonne falls in stocks and cancelled warrants to 440,800 tonnes and 14,650 tonnes respectively. Lead was $19 lower at at $1,815, while stocks fell 100 tonnes to 184,650 tonnes.
Tin finished at $17,750, down $150, while stocks were again unchanged at 6,050 tonnes. Steel billet was indicated at $300/325, cobalt at $24,250/24,750 and molybdenum at $14,750/15,250.
(Additional reporting by Kathleen Retourne, editing by Mark Shaw)