The base metals were mixed on Tuesday. Copper was up, bottoming at $2.55 in the pre-dawn hours, then moving sharply higher to mid-morning, before falling off again to finish at $2.5976/lb., up 5 cents. Nickel started the day much lower, then traded sideways through a tight range of about 10 cents, closing at $6.4168/lb., down 47¼ cents. Zinc dropped off, ending at $0.6898/lb., down better than 3 cents.

The base metals were all in positive territory on Friday. Copper rallied through the mid-morning of the New York day, peaking above $2.75, before easing but still finishing in the black at $2.6757/lb., up 4 cents. Nickel was sharply higher in the pre-dawn hours, but held a good part of its gains through the day, closing at $6.8697/lb., up 19¼ cents.

The base metals were mixed on Tuesday. Copper fell below $2.80 in the pre-dawn hours, but then righted itself, managing to claw its way back into positive territory at $2.9036/lb., up better than a penny and a half. Nickel dropped below $7 early, rallied back into the mid-morning, but then sagged again to close at $6.9642/lb., down more than 24 cents.

The base metals were mostly in positive territory on Monday. Copper, up slightly during the pre-dawn hours, moved sharply higher through the New York day, only easing off its intraday highs late and finishing at $3.3162/lb., up 10¾ cents from Friday. Nickel had a banner day, up steadily with only minor setbacks, to close at its intraday high of $7.9394/lb., up 33 1/3 cents.

The base metals mostly posted slight gains on Wednesday. Copper was at the low end of a 4-cent range for most of the day, until a late morning rally pushed it into the black, with a finish at $3.1402/lb., up more than 2¾ cents.