Base metals on the London Metal Exchange (LME) have closed mixed as investors awaited fresh direction and digested mounting concerns about the future of demand from China.
At the close of open-outcry trading in the LME ring on Tuesday, three-month copper was 0.2 per cent down on the day at $US7,064.50 per metric ton.
Aluminium rose 0.4 per cent to $US1,771 per ton.
Tin closed some 1.4 per cent higher at $US23,290 per ton, after hitting its highest price since mid-December earlier in the session. The metal is the most thinly-traded base metal, sometimes exaggerating its price moves.
"Base metals are mixed as the market tries to make sense of events from the last few days," said RBC Capital Markets in a note, alluding to concerns about Chinese banks tightening up lending to the property sector.
China accounts for 40 per cent of the total global demand for copper, and the matter had raised some concerns about the future of demand growth in the nation.
"The red metal has suffered, but is holding support at $US7,000 so far as tight nearby spreads and a smelter bottleneck remain supportive," said RBC.
