Market and product

Aluminum, which has lost 12 percentthis year, may decline further about 13 percent after pricesfailed to rise above a 200-day moving average, according totechnical analysis by Commerzbank AG.

The metal reached last week resistance at the April high of$1,946 a metric ton and the 200-day moving average of $1,945.61, Karen Jones and Axel Rudolph, London-based technical analysts atthe bank, wrote in a report Aug. 28. Resistance refers to levelswhere sell orders may be clustered.

Prices have since traded below those levels and may extendlosses to the 55-day moving average of $1,830.86, they said. Ifprices fall below the June low of $1,758, the lowest since July2009, the metal may then drop to $1,605, the analysts said.

“We continue to view aluminum as vulnerable on thedownside from a longer-term perspective,” they said.

Aluminum for delivery in three months on the London MetalExchange was little changed at $1,833 at 2:26 p.m. in Shanghai.

In Technical analysis, investors and analysts study chartsof trading patterns and prices to forecast price direction.Support areas are marked by clusters of buy orders. Fibonaccianalysis is based on the theory that prices rise or fall bycertain percentages after reaching a new high or low.