Market starts to slip

DOMESTIC/Non-ferrous metals

Non-ferrous metals lost ground last week. Copper fell along with decrease in gold prices. Copper wire bar closed at Rs 156 on Monday down by Rs 2 from last week.

The price remained steady at Rs 155 from Tuesday to Saturday before rising. Copper heavy scraps closed at Rs 134 on Monday down from Rs 13 last week.

The price remained steady from Tuesday through Saturday at Rs 133. Copper heavy utensil scraps closed at Rs 115 from Rs 120 last Monday. The price remained steady at Rs 114 from Tuesday through Saturday before rising by Re 1.

Nickel cathodes closed at Rs 780 per kilogram, down by Rs 135 from last Monday's close of Rs 915. The price fell consistently until Saturday, after which it rose to close Rs 40 up this Monday.

Brass utensil scraps closed at Rs 92 from last Monday's Rs 93. Brass sheet cutting closed at Rs 97.50 from last Monday's Rs 99. It was steady at Rs 96.50 from Tuesday through Saturday before rising to Rs 97.50.

Aluminium utensil scraps closed at Rs 74, same as last week. The price fell to Rs 73 on Tuesday before gaining again. Lead ingots were stable at Rs 46 except for Tuesday, when it fell to Rs 45. The price of aluminium ingots closed at Rs 94 on Monday. The price remained steady at Rs 93 from Tuesday to Saturday.

Zinc slabs hovered between Rs 73 and Rs 72, closing at Rs 73 on Monday, same as last week. It fell by Re 1 on Tuesday before rising again on Monday. Tin slabs fell to Rs 402 from last week's Rs 425.

In the futures market, lead in the March contract on the National Multi Commodity Exchange remained constant between Rs 45 and Rs 46. While volume traded was 1464 contracts in 29 trades, there were no open positions.