The base metals were mixed again on Wednesday. Copper was only slightly higher until the New York open, when it busted up to its peak of $2.09 in the late morning, then subsided to finish at $2.0756/lb., up better than 3 cents. Nickel was up and down sharply all day, to little effect as it closed at $5.6442/lb., up a penny and a quarter.

The base metals were all sharply higher on Friday. Copper rose from the late pre-dawn hours straight through to afternoon, only just coming off its intraday high to finish at $1.4273/lb., up 14¼ cents from Tuesday.

The base metals were mixed in undramatic trading on Friday. Copper bottomed late in the pre-dawn hours, but moved steadily up from there to regain positive territory, finishing near its intraday high at $3.3716/lb., up two-thirds of a cent.