A bearish technical chart pushed London Metal Exchange metals lower Thursday, with the benchmark copper contract slipping to a fresh six-week low, market participants said.

LME three-month copper traded above previous kerb prices for most of the session, only slipping below $7,000 a metric ton in the approach to the afternoon kerb when technical selling emerged. Prices rebounded to $7,040/ton by the late kerb, down $160 on previous PM kerb prices, with trading thin throughout.

Aluminium prices slipped below $2,500/ton for the second time in the session, closing down $11 on previous PM kerb prices at $2,485/ton. Earlier in the session, prices touched an intraday high of $2,542/ton mainly owing to a large, 3,200-ton stock drawdown.

Nickel saw the largest intraday losses, falling 3.7% or $740/oz to $19,110/ton. Nickel remains well-supported by favorable fundamentals including strong buying interest from the stainless steel sector and a pattern of substantial stock drawdowns from LME warehouses, according to Barclays Capital.

Zinc also saw relatively steep intraday losses, falling $100 or 3% to finish the late kerb at $3,230/ton. Prices found firm support at $3,200/ton, a trader said.

3 months metal (prices in dollars a ton)
Bid – Ask, Change from Friday PM kerb

Copper 7040.00-7050.00, Dn 160.00
Lead 1015.00-1020.00, Up 8.00
Zinc 3230.00-3235.00, Dn 100.00
Aluminium 2499.00-2500.00, Dn 11.00
Nickel 19110.00-19150.00, Dn 740.00
Tin 7900.00-7925.00, Dn 75.00