MARKET TALK: LME Aluminum Eyes $3,000/Ton By Month-End

LME aluminum is finding good support from funds early Wednesday as the market continues to digest news of Alcoa's (AA) $26.9 billion hostile bid for Canada's Alcan (AL), says a base metals broker. Adding to price support is LME data Wednesday which shows aluminum stocks fell 1,650 tons to 835,600 tons. "There is still a steady flow of (stock) withdrawals from a widespread of locations which suggest ongoing demand," says William Adams at BaseMetals.com. Aluminum continues to find good resistance around $2,900/ton but should hit $3,000/ton by the end of May, says the broker. LME aluminum trades at $2,917/ton a metric ton, up 0.7% from Tuesday.