Zinc futures soften 1.50% on global cues

NEW DELHI: Zinc futures fell by 1.50 per cent to Rs 108.35 per kg today as speculators indulged in reducing positions after the metal retreated to the lowest level since June 2010 in global market on swelling inventories.

Zinc for delivery in current month plunged Rs 1.65, or 1.50 per cent to Rs 108.35 per kg at the Multi Commodity Exchange. It clocked a business turnover of 48 lots.

Likewise, the metal for delivery in October softened by Rs 1.50, or 1.35 per cent, to Rs 109.65 per kg in 50 lots.

Analysts attributed fall in zinc futures to a weak trend at the London Metal Exchange (LME).

Zinc slid 2.5 per cent at the LME and by 4.5 per cent to 13,660 yuan (USD 2,145) per tonne in Shanghai as a surge in inventories heightened investors concern about demand prospects amid the economic slowdown in China.