LME base metals closed up against each other, brokers Ruifu under difficult conditions

London, October 14th - LME base metals ended mixed on Friday, followed by ups and downs, concerns about the situation of US brokerage firm Refco Inc.; RFX.Ngt; Daily increase.

Indicator three-month copper MCU3gt; fell sharply again, once fell to below the low of 3,800 US dollars on October 4th, greatly away from the record high of US$3,985 hit on Tuesday. More than 4,700 transactions were active.

An analyst said, "The market conditions fluctuate a lot and Ruifu is the main reason behind it."

Reef was struggling to survive on Friday and began to close another sector, its bonds fell further and caused bankruptcy worries. Former Swiss Chief Executive Phillip Bennett was charged on charges of securities fraud on Wednesday.

"There are rumors that they have been clearing parts," a trader said.

However, industry sources said that Refco Overseas, who is a member of the LME Circle, is doing its best to maintain normal operation. As the company is supervised by the relevant agencies, it may not fall into the trouble faced by Ruifu or other subsidiaries.

"As far as we know, they are still operating normally... Exchanges and liquidation are all well-managed risk management," said Robinson, director of public relations at LME.

LCH.Clearnet, which guarantees and liquidates futures transactions for Refco Overseas and Refco Securities, confirms that the company has fulfilled its obligations.

"We can confirm that the two companies meet the membership requirements and are responsible for all their debts. These debts are recalculated and reconfirmed every day," said LCH.CLearnet CEO Lem.

When Enron went bankrupt at the end of 2001, its metal department was still operating normally because its capital and customer funds were protected. Enron's metal department was the main trading entity of LME at that time.

Three-month copper was at $3,802 a tonne, down $36 from late Thursday's composite trading closing price.

**Fall and long clearing pressure**

The metal market has been under pressure since the middle of this week, prices may fall, investors may clear the site.

A fund source said, "Mining stocks frustrated yesterday and constituted a lot of uncertainty. Some market participants have made profits."

Although the price of copper is in jeopardy, the buying interest in the copper market is obvious, and the fundamental factors of soundness still support the copper market.

Adams of Basemetals.com stated in a daily report that “it is not surprising that orders have been sold so far, as these consumer customers who reduce their inventory may also increase their inventory as prices decline.”

In terms of other base metals, three-month aluminum (MAL3gt) rose 18 US dollars to 1,948 US dollars per ton, Wednesday aluminum technical push to drive an eight-month high of 1,972 US dollars, but the spot / three months spread by the Earlier in the week, the inverse price difference of 15 dollars became a positive spread of 3 dollars, which improved due to a tight situation.

Three-month zinc lt; MZN3gt; slipped 1 US dollar to 1,475, three-month lead lt; MPB3gt; rose 22 US dollars, reported 967/968 US dollars.

The three-month tin; MSN3gt; rose 25 US dollars to 6,475/500, while the three-month nickel; MNI3gt; also rose 25 US dollars to 12,225 US dollars.