This Morning
COMEX March copper was trading down nearly 3 cents early this morning at around $2.69 per pound. In contrast, copper futures in Shanghai settled 0.7% higher this morning following the release of official statistics that show Chinese real GDP dipped to 6.4 percent growth in the fourth quarter, while industrial output rose 5.7% and retail sales increased 8.2% in December, in-line or slightly better than the consensus forecasts according to Bloomberg. In London, base metal prices were mostly lower this morning with LME 3-mo. copper recently trading around $5,994/mt while 3-mo. aluminum dipped to $1,860 per ton. In other commodity markets, NYMEX WTI crude oil was trading in a narrow range around $54 per barrel while COMEX gold dipped to $1,278/to. In foreign exchange trading the euro was holding up around $1.136 while the British pound was little changed at $1.287 as the Brexit drama continues.