The Federal Reserve’s voting committee made hawkish speech. The number of initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending May 11 was 222,000, down from the previous value of 231,000; Israeli Defense Minister: More troops will join the ground operation in Rafah, southern Gaza; Yemeni Houthi armed leader: Any ship heading to an Israeli port will become a target within our strike range; According to foreign media: CME plans to launch spot Bitcoin trading; China and Russia jointly signed and issued a joint statement on deepening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and Russia in the new era; The China Securities Regulatory Commission requires local securities regulatory bureaus to report on the random inspection of bond business, and a storm of strict bond supervision is coming; The first IPO after the new listing rules was suspended for review, and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange said: This is a normal situation during the review; Ideal Auto has started a new round of personnel adjustments, optimizing more than 18%
LME zinc prices opened at $2988/mt last evening and touched an intraday high of $3007/mt, with the low-end of $2940.5/mt. It closed down $22/mt or 0.74% at $2961/mt. Trading volumes decreased to 10071 lots, with open interest rose 5025 lots to 242,000 lots. LME zinc inventories increased by 8,800 tons to 259,675 tons, an increase of 3.5%. The monthly rate of the U.S. import price index in April rose more than expected, which was good for the U.S. dollar index. Combined with the increase in LME inventories, LME zinc was suppressed downward. We will pay attention to the integer mark of $2,900/ton in the future.
The most active SHFE 2407 zinc contract prices opened at 23600 yuan/mt and closed at 23820 yuan/mt last evening, up 130 yuan/mt or 0.55%. The trading volume was down to 75819 lots, and open interest increased 3952 lots to 114,000 lots. The loosening of real estate restrictions has initially shown results, and market confidence has gradually recovered. In addition, the ore supply maintained a tight pattern, which supported the upward movement of SHFE zinc. However, the high zinc price suppressed downstream consumption, and the upward space of SHFE zinc will be limited.
![US Dollar Index Strengthened, LME Zinc Came Under Pressure and Edged Lower [SMM Zinc Morning Meeting Summary]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/kdRPs20251217171754.jpg)