SINGAPORE — Most industrial metals declined on Monday as investors feared prolonged worldwide shutdowns to contain the coronavirus epidemic could push the global economy into a deep recession.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.4% to $4,770.50 a tonne by 0451 GMT, while aluminum fell 0.3% to $1,541.50 a tonne, nickel was almost unchanged at $11,350 a tonne, zinc dropped 1% to $1,860 a tonne and lead lost 1.1% to $1,685 a tonne.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.2% to 38,590 yuan ($5,439.12) a tonne, aluminum declined 1.5% to 11,510 yuan a tonne, lead dropped 0.3% to 13,755 yuan a tonne, while nickel rose 0.6% to 92,730 yuan a tonne.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday extended the stay-at-home guidelines for his country until the end of April, while a senior British medical official said some of their lockdown measures could last months.

Meanwhile, metals prices were less volatile on Monday compared with previous sessions, discouraging outright traders from participating and lowering volume.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

“Initially it was an elevator going down because of the worsening economic prospects… but now we counter that with fiscal policy, monetary quantitative easing and shorts doing profit-taking,” said a base metal trader.

“This is a time where instead of playing flat price, one may try calendar spreads or arbitrage between exchanges.”

FUNDAMENTALS

* ALUMINIUM: Plummeting aluminum prices due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on demand are unlikely to persuade producers to immediately cut output as input costs have also fallen, leaving the market with massive surpluses.

* CHINA INVENTORY: Aluminium stocks monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange have fallen for the first time in three months, although experts say this does not necessarily mean China’s virus-hit demand is catching up with supply.

* CHINA: China’s central bank unexpectedly cut the rate on reverse repurchase agreements by 20 basis points, the largest in nearly five years, as authorities stepped up measures to relieve pressure on an economy ravaged by the pandemic.

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PRICES

Three month LME copper

Most active ShFE copper

Three month LME aluminum

Most active ShFE aluminum

Three month LME zinc

Most active ShFE zinc

Three month LME lead

Most active ShFE lead

Three month LME nickel

Most active ShFE nickel

Three month LME tin

Most active ShFE tin

ARBS ($1 = 7.0949 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Subhranshu Sahu)