By: Kathleen Retourne

London 29/08/2012 - Base metals were marking time ahead of important meetings in the US and Europe, with prices largely rangebound with a slightly negative bias.

“Most prices were slightly lower as market participants reduced risk ahead of the Jackson Hole symposium. These lacklustre trading conditions could persist for the next few days," Credit Suisse said in a note.

Many investors are looking to this symposium - which runs from Thursday to Saturday - for an announcement on further quantitative easing by US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. He used this occasion to do so in 2010.

But not everyone agrees that an announcement is imminent. "The Jackson Hole conference is not the forum for Bernanke to make any strong commitment to easing," Standard Bank said.

Over in Europe, investors hope that a speech by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi on Saturday will point towards stronger ECB intervention to rein in the eurozone crisis

Data releases scheduled for today include the US preliminary second-quarter GDP growth figure, which is expected to come in at 1.7 percent, and pending home sales, which are forecast to rise 1.1 percent. The beige book, an analysis which is used by the FOMC to help it make decisions on interest rates, is due out at 19:00 BST.

Market participants are also hoping for further monetary easing signals from China, with eyes on the crucial manufacturing purchasing managers index due in the early hours of Saturday. It is expected to come in at 49.8 - a number below 50 indicates contraction.

In currencies, the euro was still near its eight-week high at 1.2558 against the US dollar.


NICKEL CLINGS ONTO GAINS

Copper was last at $7,555 per tonne, a $45 loss from the previous close. Warehouse stocks fell a net 175 tonnes to 234,025 tonnes.

Aluminium slipped to $1,903.25, a $12.75 loss. Stocks dropped 3,725 tonnes to 4,889,650 tonnes and cancelled warrants were down 18,525 tonnes to 1,704,450 tonnes.

“Aluminium buyers need to prepare themselves for further rising premiums. According to industrial sources, premiums on aluminium are set to increase once again in the fourth quarter in Japan, Asia’s largest importer of aluminium,” Commerzbank said.

“Even though the high premiums are currently easing the cost basis for aluminium manufacturers, we believe that the coming months will bring extensive cuts in production on a global level, as many producers have no longer been able to cover their costs for some time now,” it added.

Nickel was the only metal in positive territory, up $23 at $16,273 - even after stocks jumped a punchy 2,928 tonnes to 118,164 tonnes, the highest since April 2011, with 1,650 tonnes warranted in Johor and 1,322 tonnes in Rotterdam. The latter location holds the bulk of the LME stockpile at 67,806 tonnes.

Zinc traded at $1,860, down $12. Stocks fell 6,200 tonnes to 955,225 tonnes, the lowest since mid-June. There were 3,000 tonnes shipped out of New Orleans, which holds the majority of LME stocks at 668,225 tonnes.

The market is watching the progress of Hurricane Isaac - Hurricane Katrina struck in the same region seven years ago, which led to LME-warehoused material being unavailable due to floods.

Lead at $1,966.50 was $8.50 lower after stocks slipped 1,625 tonnes to 312,576 tonnes and cancelled warrants at 74,775 tonnes were down 1,775 tonnes.

Tin fell $500 to $20,200 but was off its earlier session low of $19,901. Inventories rose 50 tonnes to 11,610 tonnes, while cancelled warrants rose 400 tonnes to 6,165 tonnes.

Steel at $355/380 remained soft although inventories declined for the 14th consecutive day, losing a further 390 tonnes to 53,365 tonnes - the lowest since July 24. In the minor metals, cobalt was indicated at $29,600/30,000 and molybdenum was neglected.


(Additional reporting by Eddie Van der Walt and Martin Hayes, editing by Mark Shaw)