This morning, many of the leading industrial and base metal stocks are pulling back. This industry group has been very strong since the important Shanghai Index (China) bottomed out in late November 2012. Chinese growth is extremely important for the leading industrial and base metal stocks.
One of the important factors that could stall this important stock sector would be a stronger U.S. Dollar Index. Today, the U.S. Dollar Index futures are catching a bid higher and this is certainly one of the reasons for the small pullback in the industry group. Should the U.S. Dollar Index decline or pullback throughout the trading day then the base and industrial metal stocks are likely to bounce off of the intra-day lows.
Some leading base and industrial metal stocks that are declining lower today include Vale S.A. (VALE), RIO Tinto plc (RIO), BHP Billiton Limited (BHP), and Teck Resources Limited (TCK). Short-term traders can watch for intra-day support for RIO around the $58.60, and $58.00 levels.