The Metal Bulletin 62% fines price jumped 5.9% or $US3 to $54.04 per tonne, a new April high.

It comes after BHP Billiton – which has been accused by politicians and rivals of “flooding the market” – indicated it was slowing its expansion yesterday.

Iron ore is now up by almost 15% since its low of $47.08 on April 2.

MB 58% fines rose 3.7% or $1.59 t0 $44.67/t.

Meanwhile, precious metals were lower with gold back below $1200 an ounce after positive US housing data dimmed gold’s demand as a safe haven investment.

Gold fell 1.4% to $1186.60/oz, a low point for April.

Silver and platinum also dropped by more than 1%, while palladium lost 2.5%.

Copper remained below $6000/t, dropping another 0.7% to $5902/t.

Tin and nickel were flat after recent fluctuations, while aluminium lost 0.7% to $1820.75/t.

The Australian dollar was sitting at 77.58c.

The SPI 200 Futures index was up 11 points, suggesting a positive opening this morning.

US stocks rallied overnight on earnings results, with the S&P 500 up 0.5%.