Base metals ended in a negative territory on Wednesday as investor anxieties about the strength of economic recovery drove investment away from riskier assets into safer havens like the dollar and government debt. Most of the metals fell by over 3 percent on LME. However, the losses in metals on MCX were capped owing to the depreciation of rupee against the dollar.

Zambia's Lumwana Mining Co. Ltd, a unit of Australia's Equinox Minerals Ltd, said on Wednesday annual copper output will be much lower than the projected 170,000 tonnes due to production setbacks.

Nyrstar, the world's largest producer of refined zinc, is about to perform a sharp strategic U-turn. After two years of existence as a stand-alone smelting company, it is getting into the mining business.

European Nickel said on Wednesday it has ended a key off-take agreement with BHP Billiton as part of a switch which it says will facilitate getting financing from a Chinese partner.

Up to about 100,000 tonnes of copper originally destined for warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange may be heading for London Metal Exchange warehouses - Sources.

Base metals are likely to trade down for the day due to strengthening demand concerns. We recommend selling base metals at rise during the day. However, the fall in dollar against the euro may cap the downside in base metals.