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Richard Lake, technical analyst at broker Brewin Dolphin, is bearish on copper, zinc and platinum.

Having featured the chart of the copper price in early August as ‘very critical’ at $7,595 (£3,826) a tonne, Lake says the chart is ‘now bearish’ at $6,827 and would ‘initially’ expect a return to the ‘$5,500 to $6,000 area’. That compares with only $1,340 on 7 November 2001, when the copper bull market began.

Lake argues that the recent downswing in the copper price is particularly significant ‘as it records the failure of two recent rallies to regain the 12 May historic peak of $8,589’. Turning to zinc, which was $746 a tonne in August 2002 and is $3,014 now, he has lowered his medium-term target from $2,500 to $2,000 now that the metal has continued to ‘fall below its declining 50-day and 200-day moving averages’.

Platinum at $1,245 an ounce has started a ‘new downtrend’, contends Lake. The precious metal has broken its ‘short support line’ at $1,270 since he asked on 9 August, with the price at $1,286, whether its bullish trend (which started at $415 on 2 October 2001) was about to change.

Brewin Dolphin	LSE	£215.66m	100.50p	0.50p
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