Commodity markets got off to a steadier start yesterday, as the sell-off in the previous session gave way to cautious optimism after equity markets stabilized on supportive Chinese manufacturing data.

But the reprieve, which also stemmed from longer term investment fund buying, may be short-lived if China, worried about the surge in commodity markets this year, continues its attempts to cool the sector.

With prices of oil, copper and lead all up 100 percent since the early part of 2009 and many other industrial raw materials up by double-digit percentages, except for grains, China may be trying to take some of the heat out of markets.