Copper, aluminium, lead, nickel, and crude oil ? beaten down in the last few trading sessions ? extended losses by falling 1.5% to 3% on international bourses.
?The devastation could have an impact on early greenshoots seen in Japan and seems to have had a softening impact on commodities, particularly oil, as a kneejerk reaction,? said Shubhada Rao, chief economist at Yes Bank . ?However, Japan accounts for 4.5% of global trade and is not a small economy. Whether demand for goods and services shrink or rise because of reconstruction, as has been observed in Australia , will become clearer once damage assessment is completed.?
Agencies reported last month that Japan?s gross domestic product fell less than estimated in the fourth quarter in a pullback that may prove temporary as overseas demand revives production after the nation fell behind China as the world?s second-largest economy.
Copper, which leads the base metals pack on London Mercantile Exchange (LME), was down 1.7% at $9,035 a tonne, aluminium fell by 2.6% to $2,517 a tonne, lead was down by 1.5% at $2,395 a tonne, and nickel fell by 1.9% to $25,555 a tonne.
Benchmark crude oil on New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) slipped below $100 a barrel, falling 2.9% to $99.72, as major refineries were shut down after disaster struck Japan.
SK Joshi, director (finance), BPCL, said margins could rise if refinery throughput is above 20 tonnes a day, but he did not expect the calamity to have a major impact on crude price. Madan Sabnavis, chief economist with rating agency Care, said demand for all commodities tended to rise after a large scale natural calamity. ?We have to assess the damage before making any comment but normally events of such scale should boost commodity prices rather than pull them down. Japan is a net importer of most commodities and if the damage to property is great we could expect good demand for food and metals, which could be bullish for prices,? he said.
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