Some saw the rising United States dollar against the Japanese yen and the Russian economic/political crisis pushing prices further down. Others saw metal prices as having sunk so low that there was nowhere for them to go but slightly up. Russia was also believed to be already producing as much copper, nickel and aluminium as it could and was factored into base metal markets on this basis. All agreed that whether prices staggered up or down, there was unlikely to be big moves either way.

"I think the market's just range-bound, US$1615-$1645 (for copper) should cover the range," said Mark Richards, base metals trader at Macquarie Bank.

Richards sees the possibility of a reasonably firm LME opening by copper, depending on the currency movements, at $1,625-$1,630. The LME base metals price fall after Friday's rally had brought the market back to where it should be, in the $1,620-$1,625 range, he said.

Nicolas Toffier, base metals analyst at Bankers Trust Australia, sees LME base metal prices more or less unchanged for the time being. Copper could drift back toward $1,600 when LME trading re-opened, depending on currency movements, he said.

"(But) we are in over-sold territory at the moment," he said. Base metals had been surprisingly resilient in recent weeks in riding the global crisis, he said. Another trader who did not wish to be named said global uncertainty meant that LME base metal prices would not open higher. Most probably there would be a slight decline.

But base metal prices had not traded greatly lower in the Australia/Asia zone on Monday, the analyst pointed out.

A falling Dow Jones stock index should be bullish for base metals, producing short covering in copper to cover losses in equities, Richards said. But Northern Hemisphere summertime holidays meant nothing fundamental had changed for the metals, he said. Russia had not had a major effect on Monday trades although it was shaking equities. The big effect for metals was through the rise of the United States dollar against the yen, he said.

"Base metals markets are pretty low at the moment. There might be a one point dip on the base metals markets, I can't really see it getting too much lower, there is business to be done ... the market's holding reasonably well considering how quiet it is."

Toffier saw the Russian factor "priced in" for base metals, although the country's turmoil could possibly turn bullish for metals if social unrest in Russia disrupted production.