Market optimism spreads as nickel hits three-year high

摘要

The subsiding UK heatwave seems to have given way to some slight rises in the global economy and some optimistic predictions in the base metals markets, with experts hopeful that the positive feeling will continue. Things are looking rosier than a week ago. The main source of optimism is the economists, so the optimism must be taken with a pinch of salt. Nevertheless, a straw poll of the aforementioned experts by the Reuters news agency resulted in a median forecast of 1.4 percent growth for the fiscal year 2003 (which ends in March 2004), up from an earlier forecast of 0.2 percent, and the forecast for fiscal 2004 up to 1.25 percent from an earlier forecast of 0.6 percent. Among slightly more concrete data, the US leading indicators index rose by 0.4 percent in July, up from an upwards revised 0.3 percent for June. The number of jobless claims in the US has also started to fall more rapidly than expected.