Market Comment
Dates Avaiable
24 July 2008
23 July 2008
18 July 2008
17 July 2008
16 July 2008
15 July 2008
22 May 2008
20 May 2008
14 May 2008
12 May 2008
It was a mixed day for the base metals. A stronger dollar and falling oil prices saw both the base and precious metals come under sustained downwards pressure. The exceptions were Zinc and Lead which struggled free of the general malaise on the back of short covering and technical buying activity.
The main macroeconomic news was that a deal had been reached, allowing the US Treasury Secretary to bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae - the mortgage-finance providers. The dollar strengthened on the news and put the whole commodities complex under pressure. The precious metals appeared to bear the brunt of the sell-off, with long liquidation seeing Platinum and Palladium decline by over 3% at time of writing and Gold and Silver fall by over 2%.
Oil prices came under pressure from the dollar, and receding fears over the impact of hurricane Dolly, falling for much of the day before recovering late on. The US dept. of Energy inventory data also weighed on prices during the afternoon, after showing a larger than expected gain in Gasoline stocks. While crude oil inventories fell more than expected, dropping 1.55 million barrels compared to expectations of a 600,000 fall, gasoline stocks leapt to 2.847 million barrels, compared to expectations of only a 200,000 increase.
Looking at the base metals, Nickel was the worst performer, dropping over 2% to close the day at $20,000. The fall came as recent support finally crumbled under pressure from mounting bearish sentiment towards the metal.
In contrast, Zinc and Lead both made impressive gains as short covering and technical buying saw both metals buck the trend. Lead prices started strongly following reports that Henan Yuguang was cutting 300 tpd of production in order to carry out repairs. Full production will resume in mid-august leading to around 6,000 mt of lost production, compared to an annual capacity of 310,000 mt. Prices drifted back, in line with the rest of the complex, before short covering and technical buying kicked in during the afternoon, seeing it close over 3% higher at $2,212.
Zinc also climbed strongly during the morning after reports that the Chinese government is looking to remove the 4% tax rebate on refined exports of Special High Grade Zinc. While the move would make Chinese exports more expensive, and should reduce the availability of material outside China, Chinese customs data show that refined Zinc exports were down nearly 80% y-o-y in the Jan-May period anyway - rendering any additional impact from the removal of the rebate largely irrelevant. Prices in fact fell sharply during the afternoon, following the rest of the complex lower, however short covering took hold late on propelling the metal back up to close on its highs at $1,925, up 4.28%.
Elsewhere, Copper prices drifted lower today, closing at $8,085, down 0.68%. The red metal is still within its recent range however and considering the combination of a stronger dollar, falling oil prices and a 1,650 mt increase in available LME inventory, held up relatively well. Aluminium also came under pressure, bout found good technical support just below $3,000. Aluminium eventually closed 1% lower at $3,007.
t was a quiet start to the week, with the absence of any major macroeconomic releases, and the general lack of direction exhibited by the base metals, seeing the complex again look towards the wider financial markets for direction. The complex generally traded sideways, though a weaker dollar helped all of the metals finish in positive territory
Aluminium had a consolidation day following Friday’s 3% fall, benefiting from technical support to eventually finish the day $12 higher at $3,045. With crude oil taken by many as a proxy for energy prices, in the absence of any significant headline stories, the light metal again looked towards the oil markets for general direction. A report that Chalco expects to loose around 30,000 mt of Aluminium production, after trimming output at two of its operations in Shanxi province, had little impact today, with the market having already priced in the disruption.
Copper continues to be affected by a lack direction, with the red metal consequently looking towards the currencies and oil markets for inspiration. Amid thin volumes, Copper traded sideways, eventually closing the day at $8,125, up 0.43%. Meanwhile tightness in the nearby spreads continues to remain a feature of the market. Tom-Next Copper traded out to a backwardation of $35 this morning, compared to a valuation of $10-back, with that tightness serving to deter aggressive shorts. In other news, workers at Southern Copper’s Cuajone mine have delayed strike action, due to start today, in order to provide further time for negotiations. The proposed strike was in response to the dismissal of 19 workers involved in a previous walkout.
The exceptions to today’s lateral drift were Lead and Zinc. After spending the last week consolidating its recent gains, a technical rally during the morning saw Lead prices surge higher once again. A further rally late on, this time due to shorts throwing in the towel, saw the heavy metal close the day 4.31% higher at $2,055. With rally mainly technical in nature, it will be interesting to see if any fresh buying interest was triggered, or whether prices will quickly retreat once again. In contrast Zinc, which tracked Copper for much of the day, looked to be doing very little, before a flurry of buying interest late on saw the metal rally. Zinc eventually closed 2.25% higher at $1,861.
Nickel traded sideways for much of the day, however it recovered after Friday’s losses, managing to finish the day at $20,550. In the background, LME inventory continues to fall, and is now at the lowest level since November 2007.
The Steel contract continues to make progress, with the first delivery of Far-East steel billet entering the LME warehouse in Johor. So far there have been no deliveries against the Mediterranean contract, however with the first cash prompt date for the new contracts becoming tradable on July 28th, there is still plenty of time. Coupled with recent sharp declines in prices - a necessary feature in order to trigger decent 2-way interest - the contract is starting to take shape.
The base metals generally traded sideways today, with the market, on one hand, trying to absorb the recent sharp price moves - complete with the subsequent changes in market sentiment - and on the other hand, trying to make sense of mixed macroeconomic data. Zinc was the best performer on the day, managing to claw back yesterday’s losses, however all the base metals managed to finish in positive territory.
A fall in second quarter Chinese growth initially put the markets on edge, as Q2 GDP came in at 10.1% compared to 10.6% in the first quarter. Given the extent of the slowdown in the wider global economy, 10% growth is still pretty solid however. Urban Fixed Asset Investment jumped to 26.8%during the first half of the year, compared to a 25.6% gain during the first five months. The increase was due mainly to the rebuilding effort following the Sichuan earthquake.
US housing starts increased more than expected in June, climbing 9.1% to an annualised rate of 1.066 million, from a revised 977,000 rate in May. Expectations had been for a further slide to around 960,000. While the figures looked good initially, and helped to give the metals a boost, some of the increase was due to a change in New York City’s building code on July 1st, which saw builders start construction on, and seek permits for apartments and condos a month earlier.
Elsewhere, US initial jobless claims rose by 18,000 for the week ending July 12, coming in at 366,000. Continuing claims fell however, dropping to 3.122 million for the week ending July 5th compared to 3.202 million previously.
After being on the decline since Monday, bearish sentiment towards Copper appeared to be mounting. The red metal once again looked to test yesterday’s lows, however the better than expected US data saw the metal rally strongly during the during the afternoon, eventually closing the day 1% higher at $8,165.
Following yesterday’s sharp fall, Aluminium seemed a little uncertain. The metal again looked towards the oil markets for direction, following oil prices higher during the afternoon after some initial weakness. Broadly speaking Aluminium traded sideways - albeit in a $80 range - eventually finishing the day only $6 higher at $3,129. In other news, Eskom is reportedly confident about lasting out the South African winter with out the need for any further load shedding. The electricity situation is still vulnerable to potential cuts however, with spare capacity hovering around 6%, rather than the company’s 15% target.
Zinc was the best performer of the day closing 2.45% higher at $1,840. Much of the rally happened overnight however, with the metal trading sideways during LME trading. Lead prices struggled initially, drifting back after yesterday afternoon’s recovery. Buying interest during the afternoon, on the back of better than the expected macroeconomic data, saw the metal recover its initial losses eventually finishing the day unchanged at $1,966. Elsewhere, Nickel steadied itself after recent pressure - helped by a 972 mt fall in LME stocks - closing up 1.6% at $20,775. Tin was again very quiet, closing 0.54% higher at $23,425.
Base metals prices came under pressure today, as further macroeconomic fears, and another sharp fall in crude oil prices eroded support for the metals. Aluminium was the worst performer, dropping over 3% after falling oil prices dragged the light metal lower, triggering stops on the way.
US consumer prices gained more than expected, recording a 1.1% gain in June. Expectations had been for a 0.7% increase. Excluding food and energy, prices gained 0.3%. On a more positive note, US IP came in better than expected in June, recording a 0.5% increase following a 0.2% fall last month. Expectations had been for a 0.1% gain.
Oil prices fell sharply after US Dept. of Energy data showed crude oil inventories increased more than expected on July 11th, gaining by 2.952 million barrels. Expectations had been for a 2.2 million barrel fall in stocks following a fall of 5.84 million barrels during the previous week. WTI crude dropped $5 on the news after stops were triggered, before regaining its composure. At the time of writing WTI crude was trading just above $134. The fall in oil prices appeared to be the catalyst for much of the weakness seen in Aluminium and Copper.
The sharp drop in oil prices proved to be the final nail in Aluminium’s coffin. The light metal had been under pressure throughout the day - following a 24,825 mt increase in LME stocks - but had held up relatively well. The fall in oil prices dragged Aluminium lower however, triggering stops on the way down which saw the metal fall sharply. Aluminium did bounce up from its lows, however it was too late in the day with the metal eventually closing 3% lower at $3,123.
Zinc prices were much more measured when compared to the rest of the complex, trading sideways for much of the day after coming under pressure initially. The metal failed to recover however, eventually closing the day 2.39% lower at $1,796. Meanwhile, the larger Chinese smelters didn’t follow the lead of the country’s smaller operations in agreeing to cut output. The lack of movement was largely expected by the market, with several smelters pointing to the output cuts they had already instigated during the first half of the year.
Copper prices drifted steadily lower during the morning after concerns over the impact of planned strike action receded. Workers at Freeport’s Cerro Verde Mine voted against joining the action and instead opted to continue talks with company officials. A sharp fall in oil prices saw the red metal come under further pressure, eventually closing the day 0.80% lower at $8,085.
After holding close to $2,000 yesterday, Lead prices fell sharply during the morning after Chinese buying interest dried up, following the sharp narrowing of the Chinese LME arbitrage. The heavy metal did bounce during the afternoon, and -in contrast to Aluminium and Copper - appeared to garner support from the fall in oil prices, eventually closing the day at $1,965. Nickel continued to come under pressure, eventually closing nearly 2% lower at $20,450. Tin had another quiet day, finishing unchanged at $23,300.
Macroeconomic factors dominated the day’s trading, with the metals generally taking a back seat and drifting lower. The falls came in spite of a weaker dollar, as economic fears and a sharp fall in Oil prices appeared to weigh on the metals. Zinc was the worst performer, closing nearly 8.5% lower after coming under sustained selling pressure.
A series of poor macroeconomic data put the base metals on the back foot, as concerns mounted over the demand outlook. The German ZEW index hit a record low of -63.9 in June, while US producer prices leapt more than expected, coming in at 1.8% compared with expectations of 1.4%. Advance retail sales were also disappointing, coming in way below expectations at 0.1% in June, as the effect of the US tax rebates faded. Meanwhile, the Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, finished off a bleak day, highlighting in his scheduled testimony to the US Senate, that there are significant downside risks for growth, while upside risks for inflation have intensified.
Oil prices fell dramatically today, with WTI crude at one point plummeting over $6 in 6 minutes after stops were triggered. Initially, Oil had gained slightly on the back of a weaker dollar, however concerns that slower economic growth would curtail demand saw prices dip, triggering a sharp technical sell off. Prices did stabilise, however at the time of writing, WTI was still trading around 137.50, down nearly $8 on the day.
Zinc prices tumbled, closing the day nearly 8.50% lower at $1,840. With the market still well supplied, an element of profit taking kicked in after the metal’s recent strength, triggering stops on the way down. The fall came in spite of news that Teck Cominco is shutting its Lennard Shelf Zinc-Lead mine early. The company will close the mine next month after a combination of rising costs, lower metals prices, and a stronger Australian dollar made the operation uneconomic. The mine had originally been slated for closure in 2011, though the company had warned as early as April that it might close in late-2009. The mine produced 42.1 kt of Zinc in 2007 and 12.4 kt of Lead.
While the move is indicative of the pressures many similar operations are under, being squeezed both by falling metals prices and rising costs, the closure on its own is not enough to tighten the market quickly. Instead the market appeared to focus on short-term concerns that the large Chinese Zinc smelters may not cut production enough to make a significant impact on the current surplus.
Elsewhere, Aluminium prices also fell heavily, dropping 2.60% to close the day at $3,220. Given the metals recent move higher, some element of consolidation and profit taking was to be expected, however the dramatic fall in Oil prices also appeared to drag the light metal lower.
Copper drifted sideways for much of the day but, like Aluminium, it also appeared to follow Oil prices lower during the afternoon. The red metal did bounce from its lows, eventually closing the day at $8,150, down 1.63%. Meanwhile the tightness in the nearby Copper forwards was again apparent, with Tom-Next Copper trading out to a backwardation of $35, compared to a valuation of $5-back this morning.
The rest of the complex meandered about. Lead closed 1% higher at $1,990 as it benefited from another sharp fall in available LME inventory, down 2,550 mt today to 84,600 mt, while, with attention focused elsewhere, Tin and Nickel drifted sideways closing at $23,3000 and $20,850 respectively.
Following last week’s dramatic price moves, the base metals unsurprisingly started this week looking a little uncertain. Position housekeeping, ahead of the third Wednesday, dominated the morning session, while Lead and Zinc also reacted to news regarding possible production cuts in China. The initial excitement faded however, with the afternoon seeing the metals drift sideways.
News that a group of 26 smaller Chinese Zinc and Lead smelters were looking to cut output by 10% gave both metals an initial boost, however the effect was short lived. As with Aluminium, the action is being taken to alleviate power shortages ahead of the Olympics, however the main focus will be on Wednesday, when the larger industry players meet to discuss potential cuts. As many of the operations have been running at sub-optimal capacity for some time now, the key issue is from which level the proposed 10% cut will be measured from.
Zinc reached a high of $2,120 on news of the cut-back, however, as the initial exuberance faded, prices fell back then traded sideways to close the day at $2,010, down 0.74%. Lead also followed a similar pattern, however prices held up better with the heavy metal eventually closing at $1,970, up 0.25%. In other news, the International Lead and Zinc Study Group estimate that Lead was in a 31 kt surplus during the first 5 months of the year as output increased by 3.9% y-o-y to 3.501 Mt, and demand grew by 3.2% during the same period to 3.470 Mt. Zinc meanwhile posted a surplus of 59 kt for the Jan-May period, with refined Zinc production increasing by 1.8% to 4.826 Mt compared to a 1% increase in Global demand posted to 4.767 Mt
Copper prices traded sideways, finishing the day at $8,285, up $10 on Friday’s close. The recent tightness in the nearby spreads was again a feature of the market, and helped to shore up prices. Meanwhile, Zambia’s Indeni oil refinery has closed temporarily, after running out of crude oil on July 9th. A fresh shipment of crude is expected to arrive in Dar Es Salam on July 21st. The facility is Zambia’s only refinery, however with disruptions happening fairly regularly over recent years, its closure is unlikely to impact on the mining industry in the short term. Most major operations keep contingency stocks, with some having several months of fuel supplies on-site.
In the absence of any further power-related from news from China, Aluminium coasted sideways, looking to the dollar for direction. The light metal eventually closed the day at $3,306, down 0.33%. Elsewhere, Nickel failed to recover from Friday’s close, with the metal coming under renewed downwards pressure today. Nickel eventually finished at $20,760, down 3.91%. Tin on the other hand was very solid, gaining steadily to close the day at $23,350.
On the macroeconomic front, the main news was a plan from the US Treasury to support the beleaguered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Separately the Federal Reserved authorised both firms to borrow directly from the central bank at a rate of 2.25% if needed. Elsewhere, UK producer prices rose by 10% y-o-y in June, the fastest rate in 22 years, and slightly above expectations of a 9.9% gain. Eurozone industrial production was also worse than expected, falling 1.9% in m-o-m terms and 0.6% y-o-y in May.
Tin recovers its composure but oil steals the show.
The real focus of the wider markets however was on oil. Prices for Brent Crude breached $131 a barrel while WTI traded above $132 a barrel. The reason for the rally was an unexpected drop in US stockpiles, with a further weakening in the dollar providing some further background support. The consequences for this rally, certainly as far as the metals were concerned, was further increases in far-dated Aluminium prices, with far-dated Copper prices also gaining strongly, irrespective of nearby weakness.
On the macroeconomic front, the main news was an unexpected rise in the German Ifo business confidence index. The index rose to 103.5 in May from 102.4 in April. Expectations had been for it to decline to 102. The main effect from the data was a strengthening in the Euro, which in turn helped to bolster Oil prices.
Looking at the metals, much of the focus in Copper was towards the back end of the curve. To use the Dec-11 contract as an example, after starting the day with a valuation of $1,067-back, it was bid aggressively, trading at up to $850-back before closing the day at $875-back. The sharp upwards shift in the far forward prices mirrored similar recent moves firstly in far-dated Oil, and then replicated in Aluminium. In contrast, three-month prices came under pressure today, helped by a large increase in LME inventory, up a net 2,300 mt, eventually closing the day at just over 1% lower at $8,240.
In other news, the Polish Prime Minister has suggested forming a ”Copper Pact” along with Chile and Peru in order to influence global trade and production of Copper. The plan was proposed to the presidents of Peru and Chile, though no details were made available. While a such a pact may seem unlikely, it does hint at rising resource nationalism prompted by surging commodity prices.
Aluminium rallied on the back of headlines reporting that Eskom had interrupted supplies of electricity to Aluminium smelters in South Africa, eventually closing the day at $3,020. The power constraints are due to the combination of a recent cold snap and the fact that six power plants are currently off-line undergoing repairs. Meanwhile the far dated contracts continued to rally, gaining additional support from the surge in oil prices.
Elsewhere, Nickel came under heavy pressure, closing over 3% lower at $25,200 as recent support finally gave way. Zinc also fell sharply, dropping 3.08% to close at $2,205. After recent heavy falls, Lead had a pretty uneventful time, trading sideways after some initial pressure to close the day at $2,148. Tin rallied sharply as stops were triggered on the upside, reaching a high of $24,801 before falling back to close up 0.85% at $24,255.
Complex under pressure from rising stocks and stronger dollar
The base metals complex came under renewed pressure today as a strengthening in the dollar combined with large stock increases in several metals. Initially, the complex looked to build on Friday’s gains, however with pretty uninspiring volumes, and with the base metals market appearing to lack certainty and direction, technical signals dominated play.
As the relief effort for Sichuan earthquake gets underway, more reliable estimates of production outages are being released. The damage assessments have generally been much less than was initially feared, and much less than suggested by the news footage from the affected area. This has served to remove some of the support lent to Zinc, Lead and Aluminium last week.
It was rather light on the Macro-economic front today, the major release of note being the US Leading Indicators for April. The numbers were reasonably positive however, gaining for the second month in a row, albeit at a rate of 0.1%. Expectations were for leading indicators to come in at unchanged.
Copper initially traded up to a high of $8,494 during the early morning, as Friday's momentum carried over into this week. The rally was short lived however with the red metal ignoring a 1,125mt fall in available LME inventory to reach a low of $8,265 before eventually recovering to close the day 1.41% lower at $8,320. Looking at nearby spreads, the morning was dominated by trade activity as participants embarked on house position keeping ahead of the third Wednesday. From being valued at a backwardation of $65, the Cash-June spread traded out to a backwardation of $75 during the third ring before closing at $60-back.
Zinc prices fell heavily throughout the morning, helped by a large increase in LME stocks, up 5,075 mt. Prices reached an intraday low of $2,280, however the metal found very good support around this level with prices spending the rest of the day trading sideways. Zinc eventually closed the day at $2,290, down 3.38%. The sharp fall in Zinc was more than matched however by the performance of Lead which continues to trade at a discount. Lead prices dropped by nearly 5% today, finishing on its lows at $2,231. LME Lead stocks also increased, by 1,150 mt, to stand at 64,350 mt, the highest level since September 2006.
Aluminium was also characterised by rising LME stocks, up 10,425 mt today. Prices were pretty robust however, stabilising after stops were triggered on the downside to finish the day at $2,997. Nickel prices were also relatively firm, trading sideways after an initial fall to close the day at $26,100. Tin, the only metal to loose ground on Friday, continued to come under pressure today falling 2.63% to close at $24,050.
Zinc gains while Copper treads water
The base metals were dominated by the drip feed of information regarding the extent of the disruption in China, stemming from the recent earthquake. With the market having positioned itself short last week, newswire headlines citing major disruption triggered a wave of short covering. Zinc was the biggest beneficiary, closing up over 6%. Elsewhere the picture was a little more confused, with Copper actually losing ground today as it failed to recover from a sell-off during the afternoon.
As details began to emerge from China, the scale of the disaster became increasingly apparent. The main issue as far as metals are concerned is the impact that the earthquake has had on both rail and road networks, and on power. Actual physical damage to operations appears to be very limited, however delays to raw material deliveries and, in some cases a lack of power, will likely have a greater impact. We note however that the disruption will be to the full spectrum of the metals industry, including fabricators and consumers, not just to the supply side.
Though Sichuan is relatively small in terms of metals output, surrounding provinces such as Gansu and Shanxi have also reportedly been affected. The precise scale of the disruption remains unclear, however given the speedy recovery following the snowstorms earlier this year, some of the initial estimates as to the extent of the disruption may have been overdone. As for direction tomorrow, this will likely be dictated, initially at least, by the Chinese reaction to the earthquake and the level of disruption it has caused, with the LME likely to be playing catch up to any further news of production losses.
Zinc had the sharpest reaction today, on the back of a Reuters story suggesting 500,000 tpy of Chinese capacity in Sichuan, Gansu and Shanxi had been closed by the earthquake. With the Zinc market having been short for some time now, amid weak fundamentals and generally negative sentiment, the news sparked off a short covering rally which saw prices climb by over 7% at one point. The metal eventually closed the day up 6.47% at $2,320, closing above Lead for the first time since August 2007.
Lead also rallied on the back of the earthquake news, though arguably, given the extent of last week’s decline, today’s 2.89% rally was merely a continuation of yesterday’s recovery. Lead prices peaked at $2,345 before drifting back to finish the day at $2,315.
Aluminium gained initially from news of disruption in China, however momentum faded in the afternoon with the light metal closing up 0.58% at $2,945. Nickel also looked to be struggling, however a late rally saw it finish up 1.88%. Copper meanwhile failed to emulate Nickel and, after a strong start, faded badly in the afternoon to close the day in negative territory at $8,240. Tin continued to build on its recent strength however, closing up 0.80% at $25,150 after reaching a high of $25,350 in the early afternoon.
Déjà vu as Lead remains in freefall while Tin surges higher
With the exception of Aluminium, currencies again had a limited impact on today’s price movements. Instead relentless selling pressure, particularly in Lead, resulted in further long liquidation and substantial falls across much of the base metals complex. Tin was again the exception, reaching a new record high.
Lead tumbled yet again, reaching a low of $2,187 as stops were triggered. Sentiment towards the metal has turned overwhelmingly bearish over recent weeks, with the sheer weight of selling pressure dominating trading. Lead eventually finished the day at $2,195, down 5.41% on the day and down nearly 15% from last week’s close.
Rumours surrounding large SHFE and LME stock increases saw Copper come under pressure during the pre-market session. Those rumours were confirmed by a large 11,150 mt increase in LME inventory, mostly into South Korea, and by a 4,646 mt increase in SHFE inventory. The location of the stock build, combined with the lack of Chinese buying, lends weight to the belief that Chinese consumers are de-stocking Copper in a big way. With the Codelco strike action now resolved, the absence of Chinese buying finally appears to be having an impact on prices. Copper eventually finished the day at down 2.41% at $8,100, coming under pressure from a sharp sell-off towards the close.
In other news, reports of an explosion at Konkola Copper Mines’ Nkana smelter saw Copper prices make a brief flurry higher, though the effect was short lived. Six workers were injured in the accident which involved the spillage of molten material. Meanwhile, power has reportedly been restored to Katanga province following vandalism to a major power line in the region.
Aluminium fared very well considering the losses seen elsewhere. The light metal was the odd one out, in so far as it looked to the currencies for price direction, finishing the day at $2,885, up $5 from yesterday’s close. Elsewhere, Aluminium Corporation of China (Chalco) is to link up with Malaysia’s MMC and Saudi Arabia’s Binladin group to build a 1 million tpy capacity Aluminium smelter in the Jazan Economic City, in Saudi Arabia. The project is estimated to cost around $4.5 billion and will include a power plant. Chalco will control 40% of the smelter and will also provide the Alumina for the facility.
Zinc took direction from Lead, finishing nearly 3% lower at $2,155, however good two-way interest did see prices manage to stabilise. Nickel also struggled, finishing the day at $26,700. Most of the selling came during the early morning, on the back of fears over production cutbacks at stainless steel mills. A drawdown in LME inventory helped to steady the ship, however prices continued to drift lower. Tin again did its own thing, trading up to a new record of $24,650 before closing the day at $24,600.