Aluminium heading for a 5% loss on the month, nears 15-month low

Aluminium hit a near 15-month low on Wednesday, heading for a 5 per cent loss on the month, after data showed China's manufacturing sector grew at its slowest pace since July 2016, and concerns lingered about excess Chinese supply.
 
Other metals also pulled back, with nickel hitting multi-month lows and zinc and lead dropping to their lowest in weeks.
 
Data showing slowing factory growth in China, the world's top metals consumer, reinforced worries about weakening economic growth due to a trade conflict with the United States.
 

The dollar scaled 16-month highs amid the weak Chinese data and dovish comments from the Bank of Japan. A strong dollar makes dollar-priced metals more expensive for non-US investors.
 
“Aluminium's fundamentals are weaker than other base metals like copper. There's structural oversupply in the Chinese market and the fear of more (tariffs) from the United States on all Chinese imports is not helpful,” said Sergey Raevskiy, metals analyst at SP Angel.

 

Prices: Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange eased 0.1 per cent to $1,968.50 by 11:26 GMT, after touching an almost 15-month trough of $1,961. Nickel hit its lowest since mid December at $11,675, while bellwether copper slipped 0.1 per cent to $6025.50.