Today, the most-traded BC copper 2603 contract opened at 90,360 yuan/mt. At the beginning of the session, copper prices tested a low of 90,110 yuan/mt, then fluctuated upward, approaching a high of 91,020 yuan/mt near the close, and finally settled at 90,790 yuan/mt, up 0.42%. Open interest fell to 4,485 lots, down 388 lots from the previous trading day, while trading volume dropped to 3,022 lots, down 3,104 lots from the previous session. On the macro front, Trump called on the US Fed to cut interest rates, but officials stated that inflation remains relatively high and there is no urgent need for rate cuts. US December retail sales data fell short of expectations, and copper prices maintained a fluctuating trend. On the fundamentals side, imported supply continued to arrive, leading to looser availability of spot material in the market. Demand side, weakened further as the holiday approached, with downstream enterprises having largely completed pre-holiday stockpiling, resulting in low purchase willingness at this stage. The market showed a clear pattern of weak supply and demand.
The most-traded SHFE copper 2603 contract settled at 102,180 yuan/mt. Based on the BC copper 2603 contract price of 90,790 yuan/mt, its after-tax price is 102,593 yuan/mt. The price spread between the SHFE copper 2603 contract and BC copper was -413, maintaining an inverted spread which widened compared to the previous day.
