Markets off to a choppy start

Markets were reportedly off to a choppy start this week as the dollar traded in a wider range against a basket of currencies, reflecting in part uncertainty over the election in Italy, potential spending cuts in the U.S., and a preliminary reading showing slower manufacturing growth in China. In London, base metal prices were mixed today, but included firmer LME official 3-mo. asking prices for copper ($7,890/mt), zinc ($2,094.50/mt) and tin ($23,375/mt) following last week's slide. But LME 3-mo. aluminum, nickel and lead prices were easier in PM trading. In New York, COMEX Mar copper was up about a cent to $3.545/1b. early this afternoon. Of note, the CME Group reported the daily trading volume for COMEX copper futures reached a new record on February 21, 2013 of 128,326 contracts. Other commodity prices were mostly firmer today, helping to push the DJ-UBS Commodity Futures Index up 0.3%. On Wall Street, the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 were down around 0.3% this afternoon. After initially dropping against the Euro, the dollar firmed to $1.319 in afternoon trading as the yield on 10-year Treasury notes eased to 1.93%.

A busy week ahead on the economic calendar as new figures come out on U.S. home prices and sales, durable goods orders, constructio n spending, vehicle sales, personal income & spending, consumer confidence , and the Institute of Supply Management’s reading on PMI for Feb. The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index eased to 50.4 in February, down from 52.3 in Jan uary (see below for more info ). The final reading on China PMI comes out later this week, as do Euro zone PMI and unemployment numbers. In the U.S., we’ll also get the second estimate of 4 th quarter GDP, and most analysts are expecting an upward revision. Investors will also be keeping a close eye on the spending cut negotiations in Washington this week. After last week’s hiatus, we’re back with a new Friday Report this week that will look at the week’s economic, commodity and scrap market highlights.

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