SHANGHAI, Nov. 28 (SMM) – LME lead price overnight started at USD 2,092.3/mt and later traded between USD 2,090-2,095/mt in light volumes. The upbeat US initial jobless claims reinforced expectations over the QE tapering. In response, the US dollar index bounced back at the tail of the trading. The euro narrowed its gains against the US dollar, affected by Italy’s political turmoil, exerting downward pressure on LME lead price. As a result, LME lead dipped to USD 2,071.5/mt, close to a trough of USD 2,067/mt reached last week, and finally finished USD 22/mt or 1.05% lower at USD 2,073.5/mt. Trading volumes expanded 1,753 lots to 4,625 lots, while open interest added 704 lots to 120,814 lots. LME lead price will be restrained to some extent by the continued outflow of capital on Thursday, the US Thanksgiving holiday. Attention will be on a string of European economic data on Thursday. LME lead is expected to stage a weak performance and test previous support at USD 2,067/mt.

Wednesday offered a mixed bag of US economic data. Durable goods orders dipped 2% MoM in October. Orders for core capital goods, which factor out aircrafts and national defense durable goods, also slipped 1.2% from a month ago, worse than expectations for a 0.8% growth. Looking on the bright side, the University of Michigan’s final reading on US consumer sentiment was 75.1 in November, capping the 73.1 estimate. Initial jobless claims for unemployment benefits last week fell unexpectedly to a two-month low of 316,000. However, positive data strengthened the greenback, pressuring commodity markets. Capital flowed out of base metals markets into US stock markets ahead of the Thanksgiving Day. The result was that base metals prices drifted lower, while US stocks hit highs.