TJEDNE CIJENE OBOJENIH METALA NA BURZI U LONDONU

LONDONSKA BURZA KOVINA: SLUŽBENE CIJENE 24.02.1997. CASH 3 MTHS 15 MTHS 27 MTHS SETT COPPER 2444.0/45.0 2370.0/71.0 2110.0/20.0 2040.0/50.0 2445 (STG EQV) 1503.69 1460.7 TIN 5940/5945 5995/6000 6085/6095 5945 LEAD 663.00/3.50 669.50/0.50 668.00/3.00 663.5 (STG EQV) 408.06 413.08 ZINC 1191.5/92.0 1216.0/17.0 1217.0/22.0 1198.0/03.0 1192 ALU.HG 1620.0/21.0 1650.0/50.5 1647.0/52.0 1618.0/23.0 1621 NICKEL 7935/7940 8035/8040 8230/8250 8385/8405 7940 ALALLOY 1537.0/42.0 1560.0/65.0 1615.0/35.0 1542 SETTLEMENT RATES - GBP 1.626 DEM 1.6765 JPY 122.2 Nickel, aluminium steal thunder on buoyant LME LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuter) - Aluminium and nickel soared to nine- month highs on the London Metal Exchange on Monday, stealing the spotlight from more modest gains by flagship copper. Three months delivery aluminium bustled higher on technical buying to finish the morning kerb at the day's highs of $1,659 per tonne, a gain of $28 from Friday's kerb close. Good upside progress last week made for bullishly uptrending charts, which has sparked fund interest, traders noted. "It's all technical with aluminium right now," an LME floor trader said, adding that trade selling was coming in above the market to keep a check on the rise. Aluminium's break above the recent high of $1,651 meant that the next target was the May 1996 high of $1,680, where tough resistance was expected to emerge. Nickel, which had been consolidating in a broad uptrend in recent weeks, also had a show of fireworks by blasting above the key $8,000 per tonne level on output concerns over Russia's Norilsk Nickel plant. It ended the kerb at $8,090, a gain of $115 and just off the day's high of $8,100 -- the strongest level since May 1996. News that disgruntled workers at Russia's Norilsk Nickel plant may discuss disrupting output in the future over wage delays was behind the original move to the upside, traders said. "Norilsk pushed it higher and the breach above $8,000 prompted stop-loss buying," one said. By contrast, copper was relatively quiet although it pulled up off its lows during the kerb to hit a fresh high since June last year. Copper ended the kerb at $2,380, the high of the day and a $14 gain over Friday's close. Consumer demand was helping keep prices from sinking, while strength in aluminium was serving to keep momentum rolling despite copper's overbought status, traders said. Spreads were slightly firmer, with cash/threes backwardation last at $75/$80, up above $3 from the morning's levels. "Copper should keep moving up. But if it doesn't hold at these levels we could see copper all the way down to $2,300 because its recent climb has been very fast," a trader said. Zinc was firmer at $1,217, up $6 from Friday's kerb close. Resistance in this area would make further progress difficult in the near term, some traders said. Tin also rode the other metals higher, posting a $40 gain to end at $6,020. Lead was last quoted at $669/$670, versus $669 on Friday, while alloy was last quoted at $1,560/70, compared to $1,550. 241533 MET feb 97