By Leon Westgate The base metals came under further pressure on Friday, with only nickel managing to hang onto its morning gains. While concerns over Chinese bank lending were swirling in the background, the trigger for Friday afternoon\'s weakness was the much stronger than expected US GDP growth, which saw the dollar, strengthen further. This morning has seen the complex come under further pressure though a weaker dollar is lending a bit of support. Copper came under pressure overnight, briefly trading down to $6,600. The metal has since stabilized however, picking up about $50 or so heading into the afternoon. The metal has seen very good volumes build up with just under 7,900 lots trading on LME Select by midday UK time, indicating good two way interest in what is quite a narrow range. Nevertheless, 3-month prices are trading below the 100-day moving average for the first time since March 2009. Inventory-wise on-warrant copper stocks posted another gain, picking up 4,225 mt this morning. The main location for the increase was Bilbao, up 3,950 mt. Trade commodities or equities from across the globe. Join Now Thin volumes elsewhere in the complex have seen the likes of lead and zinc track copper this morning, with the metals also stabilizing after an initial period of weakness overnight. Aluminium has seen decent turnover build up during the morning. Price-wise however the metal is coming under pressure heading into the afternoon. The worst performer however has been tin, with prices trading down to $16,000 during the late-morning, some 7% lower than Friday’s close. In other news, and ahead of the launch of the LME’s Cobalt and Molybdenum contracts later this month, Jiangsu Cobalt and Nickel Metal has successfully applied to list its cobalt brand for delivery to the LME. So far 6 brands of cobalt have been approved by the LME, compared to 4 brands of Molybdenum. The contacts start trading on February 22nd, the first trading day after the Chinese New Year Holiday.

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