Aluminium futures down 0.6% on dollar's strength

Aluminium futures inched 0.6 per cent downward to close a bit lower this week. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar weighed heavy on the white metal traded on London Metal Exchange.

According to the latest Economic Calender report, the U.S. dollar edged higher vis-a-vis rival currencies following the release of positive payroll data by Automatic Data Processing.

“A higher U.S. dollar is negative for dollar denominated commodities because it decreases demand for the commodities from holders of international currencies,” noted Donald Levit, a strategist for the Economic Calendar.



Levit speculated that with the Chinese buyers locking in prices for upcoming October shipments, aluminium uptrend could be on the horizon.

In addition to China stocking up on the white metal to feed its upcoming infrastructure projects, domestic construction spending in the U.S. fell 0.6 per cent since June last year, revealed data released by the U.S. Commerce Department.

Jeff Yoders, analyst at MetalMiner noted, "“Economists polled by Reuters had forecast construction spending increasing 0.5 per cent in June after a previously reported 0.8 per cent drop in May. Their June estimates were largely based on the government’s assumptions for private residential and non-residential construction spending in the advance GDP report.”