NEW YORK — Free-market aluminum scrap and ingot prices have remained stable after a London Metal Exchange recovery and slower trading around the Presidents’ Day holiday stemmed last week’s pricing slide.

Old cast showed the only movement in scrap pricing, moving down to 74 to 76 cents per pound Tuesday from 75 to 77 cents a week ago. Old sheet held steady at 72 to 74 cents per pound, and A380.1 was unchanged at $1.09 to $1.10 per pound.

The cash LME North American special aluminum alloy contract (Nasaac) closed the official session Wednesday at $2,235 per tonne ($1.01 per pound), up 3.7 percent from $2,156 per tonne (97.8 cents per pound) at the end of last week.

While some ingot traders said prices were trending toward the upper edge of the $1.09- to $1.10-per-pound range for A380.1 as the LME rebounded, none reported sales outside that range.

The LME recovery was widely attributed by industry sources to optimism over the global economy after a bailout deal was reached in Greece.

Some sources also reported quieter trading as many U.S. states observed the Presidents’ Day holiday, although others continued to claim that business had been quiet for some time.

"The phones have been very quiet for the past few weeks. We had sales here and there, but inquires have waned in the latter part of February," one ingot trader said.